Mar. 25—The Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) will launch its Smart Hub Portal and App in April, providing more options to consumers.
The portal and app will give PUD customers more options for how they can manage and track their energy consumption, pay for that energy and even help others in need.
The app will be available for download to mobile devices through the Apple App Store and Google Play, and the portal will be accessible by desktop computers and laptops.
"Any number of things are being really added to better equip our customers to actively manage their account and view their information on a more real-time basis," PUD Manager Chris Roden told The Chronicle.
The PUD has achieved the portal and app through a partnership with National Information Solutions Cooperative, a new solution provider for the utility, Roden said.
"They're going to be expanding the capabilities (of the PUD) into spaces where customers can report outages remotely through their smartphones or through their computers," he said.
The Smart Hub portal and app will make customer billing histories available for consumers to access historical billing information as well as their rate of consumption, Roden said.
"That's what drives their bills," he said. "So they will be able to see in one location what's driving their paying, as well as the amount they're consuming."
This time next year, the portal and app will increase this functionality further.
"We are really looking forward to this point in time next year, when we will have ... largely completed an update of our metering infrastructure to give customers access to daily information," Roden said. "So paired with the portal, having access to daily consumption and temperature information, so people will be able to better manage their usage and as such have an impact on the price they pay."
He said the increased usage-monitoring capabilities of the portal and app will be completed once the PUD finishes its metering updates.
"At the time we'll go live, we'll still be looking at monthly information," Roden said. "We are hoping to really drill down on that — give customers a more detailed look at how their home is using energy."
Through the portal and app, the customers will be treated to a robust customer service telephone line and will have access to pay their bills through text messaging, as well as more traditional electronic recurring payment options.
The PUD has also added account management functionalities to the portal's rollout, including the ability to sign up for budget pay or the equal payment plan, as some people call it.