Customers of the Atlantic Municipal Utilities will see a new statement effective December 26^th, that replaces the postcard-style billing we are used to seeing.

Sample of new AMU billing statement (Front view)

New statement (Sample) reverse view

AMU letter to customers explaining statement changes.

AMU officials announced the change during their Board of Trustees meeting Monday night. AMU General Manager Steve Tjepkes said letters will be going out to their customers explaining the change and options available for payment.

AMU says while the postcard billing statements have served them well for many years, it is becoming more cumbersome to maintain. The new statements (which resemble those of other utilities, such as Alliant Energy), are said to be less likely to get lost in the mail, because they are business envelope sized. Officials say the new statement is also: Easier to read; Have a more detailed level of information; Gives AMU the capability of adding multiple accounts to one billing statement; Will allow for better tracking of information and processing payments; and, better protects customer information.

Jennifer Saathoff, Board Secretary, said additional features being offered to their billing system in 2013 include customers’ being able to access their bill through AMU’s website to make a payment or check a detailed statement history, which is especially beneficial to the “Snow Bird”-type customer, who resides out of state during the Winter months. There will also be a feature to set-up recurring credit card payments and debit transactions.

All of those features will be rolled out sometime early next year.