CHAT News File Photo

By Chris Brown

Helps reduces administration fees

Savings grow as city reaches 50 per cent milestone for eBilling

Feb 16, 2022 | 4:57 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Half of all City of Medicine Hat utility customers have registered for eBilling, saving the city close to $400,000 per year in printing and mailing expenses.

The city’s managing director of corporate services says reaching the milestone is a huge achievement.

“There have been numerous times over the years where we thought we had hit our ceiling with the number of users on eBilling,” Dennis Egert says. “Now to have reached a point where there are more electronic bills than paper bills signals a tipping point. The sky is the limit and we have created some excitement. Savings continue to rise and environmental waste declines.”

The City of Medicine Hat says it bills about 32,408 utility customers every month. Prior to the inception of eBilling, the annual budget to distribute utility statements was about $792,000. With 16,188 customers now on eBilling, the City saves $388,512 annually. Conservatively, administrators estimate each paper bill to cost $2 when factoring in the stamp, envelope, paper, ink, printing processing time and mail clerk time.

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Denise Schmaltz, manager of customer care and billing, says these savings contribute, in part to the reduction of administration fees on utility bills.

“These savings benefit the whole customer base, so it is really in every customer’s best interest for eBilling adoption to rise,” she says.

According to the city, the administration charges for electricity and gas have declined by eight cents and 63 cents per month, respectively, since last year. The charge is used to pay for expenses related to billing. More details can be found on the city’s new webpage dedicated to understanding your utility bill.

Bergen Ehry was the 16,188th customer to sign on to eBilling and on Wednesday was awarded a $50 credit to her utility bill to recognize the occasion. The city will also make a draw on March 15 for five prizes of $50 toward your utility bill to mark the occasion. All current eBilling customers and those who sign up before March 15 are automatically entered in the draw.

Customer Care staff have awarded more than $20,000 in prizes over the years to encourage paperless billing. Prizes have included iPads, utility incentives, gift cards and light bulbs.

Anyone wishing for more information about eBilling or eUtility, where you can access information any time, can contact Customer Care at 403-529-8111 or customer_accounts@medicinehat.ca, or visit in person on the main floor of City Hall.