July 21, 2010
Start, stop, or transfer City of Austin utility bills online

Managing your City of Austin utility bill online at www.coautilities.com is the easiest and most efficient way to start, stop, or transfer service. Online Customer Care allows customers to enter a service request, view bills, access consumption information, and update account information. Customers can also make payments online. To register, you will need your account number and the social security number or tax ID for the account.

Austin Energy, who manages the City of Austin’s utility services (electric, water, wastewater, solid waste, and drainage/street service), receives around 150 online service requests each day for starting, stopping, or transferring service, compared to the thousands of phone calls that come in to the Customer Contact Center.

The end of July and early August are especially busy for Austin Energy’s Customer Care Contact Center due to the large number of UT students returning to their apartments and condos – and either reconnecting service or establishing new accounts. Last year during this time, the call center received an average of 7,500 calls daily, compared to the normal average of 5,500 calls per day.

During the summer months between May and September, the Contact Center receives an additional 5,000 calls per month on average. This is due to UT student transitions, but also to an increase in calls related to higher utility bills. Almost half of all the electricity used by residential customers over a year is consumed during just four months – June, July, August and September – this mainly due to air conditioning. In May, total calls received for the month were 105,454 and that number increased to 126,369 during June.

Austin Energy’s Customer Contact Center staffs 110 Customer Service Representatives who work rotating shifts. The Contact Center is open Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For those who prefer to call in, the number is (512) 494-9400.

In 2009, more than 115,000 requests for start, stop, or transfer of service took place through the Online Customer Care Web site.