Dear Electric and Water Customers,
Pascoag Utility District is converting to new billing and online payment software. The online bill pay system will be down from noon on October 24th to noon on November 3rd. We’ll only be able to take payments by cash or check in the office during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. These upgrades include the ability for PUD to meet Payment Card Industry (PCI) regulations. These worldwide requirements are designed to help companies that process such payments prevent credit card fraud through increased data controls. Moving to this system ensures our continued ability to securely accept debit and credit card payments.
Paying by Phone
Previously, customers have been able to pay their bill by credit card or over the phone with the help of a customer service representative. PCI regulations now require us to use a secure pay-by-phone system. Beginning on November 3, 2014 at noon, if you would like to make a payment over the phone, you will need to call the office for your new account number and then you’ll be transferred to the new pay-by-phone system. If you’d like to store your credit card or checking account information for future use, you will be asked to create a PIN that will help to identify you in the future. This phone number will be printed on the November bills and will give you 24 hour access to pay or check the balance of your bill, to update or change your phone number, to create or change your PIN number and to change or delete your autopay account.
Paying Online
Over the years, we’ve compiled suggestions from customers regarding changes they’d like to see in the format of their bills, payment options and means of communication. We’re happy to announce that we’ll be able to make many of your suggestions possible, due to the implementation of the new software upgrade. Customers, who have used our previous online bill payment software in the past, will have to register with their new account number that will appear on November bills. The software will automatically update each night to reflect payments made by mail, in the office, by phone or online. You can set up to have your payment automatically taken out of your checking account or credit card account. You’ll be able to compare your usage to previous months. You can update your account information and communicate with customer service representatives. The online registration process will default you to paperless statements but you can set yourself up to receive text and email alerts for when your bill is due. If you do not wish to receive paperless statements, you can pay through “One Time Payment” with no registration required.
Prerecorded Phone Calls
The new software allows us to send out prerecorded phone calls with important messages. These calls could alert you to a planned outage or that your account is in danger of being disconnected. We’d like to alert you to this fact because we don’t want you to think these phone calls are a scam. PUD’s phone number will appear on your caller ID 401-568-6222 so you know it’s truly from us. If your account is past due, phone calls will go out two days before the termination date and let you know that you need to call the office. The phone service will call your house and cell phone number that we have on file for you. If you have not updated your phone number with us in a while, you may want to provide the office with your most up-to-date information. If you do not wish to be called, please call the office and we’ll remove your account phone numbers from the list. You will still receive paper disconnect notices; this is just an additional notification to hopefully prevent an interruption in your service.
We are excited about the new changes and think they will address many of the suggestions we’ve received in the past. If you have any questions, please call the office at 401-568-6222.
Sincerely,
Michael Kirkwood
General Manager