On April 22 - Earth Day - CEMC members who signed up for e-bill, the electronic billing service, were given the option to discontinue receiving printed statements in favor of paperless billing.

“For our members who want to do something to help the environment, reducing the amount of paper they use is a good way to start ‘going green,’” says Jeff Bryant, supervisor of information systems and general accounting.

Information about signing up for paperless billing can be found on our website, www.cemc.org. Users should click on “Pay Your Bill Online” and follow the instructions that will display after you log in. This is also where to sign up for e-bill, which is necessary in order to go paperless. It is important to note that the check boxes on the screen in the selection box are already set to update your account(s) to paperless billing statements, so it will be necessary to click on the box that says “Send Me A Statement By Mail” if you do not wish to switch to paperless billing.

Once you have selected the paperless billing statement option you will no longer see this prompt on subsequent logins.

“We have been working with our software vendor for some time to make it possible to provide this option for our members,” Bryant says. “There definitely was interest among the membership for a paperless option.”

Approximately 20,000 e-bill users are eligible to make the paperless switch. Within 48 hours of activation, even without promoting its availability, nearly 200 members had signed up for paperless billing.

“We would like to offer this option to all of our members, but first they must sign up for e-bill to be eligible to take advantage of it,” Bryant says.