Central Hudson’s Electronic Billing Promotion Leads to
Planting More Than 2,200 Trees 

More than 2,200 trees are being planted through the Arbor Day Foundation thanks to an equal number of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. customers who enrolled in the utility’s electronic billing and payment program during the “Green Again” campaign that ended last month. This is the second consecutive year for the campaign, which in 2008 resulted in planting nearly 1,100 additional trees.

The promotion provided customers the opportunity to have a tree planted on their behalf when they signed up for paperless, electronic billing and payments through the eBills payment option between March and June of this year. During the campaign, 2,270 new customers enrolled, surpassing last year’s campaign enrollment of 1,094 new customers.

“Our 2009 promotion coincided with Arbor Day and Earth Day to highlight the environmental benefits of receiving and paying bills over the Internet,” said Charles A. Freni, Senior Vice President of Customer Services. “The campaign encouraged customers who would normally mail a paper check with their printed bill to sign up for eBills and enroll in auto-pay – making the entire process paperless. The payment option saves our customers time and money by eliminating postage, the need to write out checks and making a trip to the mailbox. In addition, the payment option provides savings for Central Hudson, both in issuing bills and processing payments, ultimately lowering our operating costs, which in turn further benefits our customers.”

Freni indicated that as of the end of June, 21,287 customers were enrolled in the eBills payment option, compared with 18,800 in March. In addition, new features are now available with eBills, including:

t Viewing important bill attachments in PDF format online

t Setting up various reminder notices to be received by e-mail

t Viewing payment history and past bills within the eBills Web site

t Permitting Direct Debit customers to sign up for eBills through the Web site

“Our goal has been to increase enrollment in our eBills program, as we believe it provides benefits for the environment, our customers and Central Hudson.” To enroll, log onto www.CentralHudson.com/ebills.

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