Update: Metro Water should go paperless. Please email me my bill. This is an option.

I am pleased to learn that one can go paperless and get their water bill on line. I don't have my bill with me and don't know my account number or I would sign up today. Why am I just now learning of this?  This should be widely known and promoted. Every mailed bill should prominently advertise this option. Now that I have learned water has this option, I will look at NES and Nashville Gas. I may never have to check my mail again!

To go paperless and get your water bill on line follow this link. 

I just got my water bill today and it was $22.56 which is for 3 CCF of water which is about what it normally is. I have it drafted from my checking account and it will be deducted on 12/31/2015.  I pay
my cable bill, credit card bill, NES bill, gas bill, The Tennessean, and cell phone bill all  this way. It saves time, the hassle of writing checks and saves postage. Also, it environmentally correct as it saves paper and waste and the energy of delivering my check to their destination in a truck.

I would also like to see the discontinuation of getting a paper bill. I think public utilities and Metro water should all move toward going completely paperless.  My cell phone company is already paperless; I get a text telling me I am being billed and reminding me the date on which payment will be deducted from my checking account. When I order something on Amazon, buy a ticket to an event, or take Uber, I never get a paper bill.  I get an email confirmation of the transaction or an email bill. I get a monthly notice from my investment adviser telling me my monthly statement is available and I go on line and review it; same thing with my monthly Regions checking statement.

I know some people like getting a paper bill. Some people do not have bank accounts and some people even like going in person to pay their bills. For those people who like doing business like that, they should still have that option, but for those of us who would like to go paperless, we should be given that option. Why do I need to open an envelope and have a bill in my hand when I can get a bill by email?

I don't know how much money it would save the water company if half of their customers went paperless, but it would save a lot.  What does it cost to print a bill and mail it?  And, how much does it cost to open the returned bill, remove the check, prepare and make the deposit?  Metro water serves 189,000 customers. If mailing out the bill and then processing the returned checks cost only a dollar each, and half the customers could be persuaded to go paperless this could save about $1.3 million dollars a year.  I hope one of the newly elected council members will take up this cause and determine how much money could be saved if the utilities went paperless and I hope they will push to make it happen. 

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