Using Auto Pay to Pay Your Electricity Bill Can Increase Electricity Consumption
Automatic bill payment is ideal for planning your monthly budget and making sure payments are made on time. Unfortunately, recent research shows that the “out of sight, out of sight” effect of automatically paid electricity bills can lead to an increase in your energy use and an increase in your bill.
A study led by Professor Steve Sexton of Duke University and published in The Review of Economics and Statistics looked at the records of nearly 160,000 energy company customers to see the impact automatic bill payments have on them. On average, those using automatic bill payment were using 8% more electricity and their bills 4-6% more than standard billing.
Sexton suggests that removing standard billing during the engagement phase could result in customers not knowing how much energy they are using and how much they are paying. While the increase may seem small, it is important to keep an eye on automatic payments for all types of invoices. Keep track of your electricity and usage bills, even if you use auto pay, and set up automatic payments with smart alerts to keep things under control, just in case.
Automatic Bill Payments and Noticeable Effects: Electricity Consumption Data | Review of Economics and Statistics via Mental Floss