SaskPower closing most cash counters in the province
Customers must now pay online or through their bank
Customers in multiple Saskatchewan communities will no longer be able to pay their SaskPower bills in person as the Crown corporation prepares to close four counters on June 1.
Cash counters in Regina, Saskatoon, Yorkton and North Battleford will soon permanently close, leaving customers to pay their bills through their online account, bank or by using pre-authorized payments.
In a news release, SaskPower vice-president of customer services, Diane Avery, said the four locations have seen decreased traffic over the past decade.
"By closing these counters, we can shift our resources to better serve our customers through the channels that they prefer."
Nine staff members from those locations will move to handle customer calls and web inquiries.
The Prince Albert cash counter will remain open to serve northern communities.
Shift in payment preferences
Customers within the communities that are losing the counters are encouraged to sign up for an online account, which allows them to pay bills and submit meter readings.
They can also check on their account regularly by downloading the SaskPower App, which shows outage notifications, account balances and power use.
Customers can also choose to set up pre-authorized payments through their bank with SaskPower.
According to SaskPower, about 80 per cent of customers who go to offices do so to pay their power bill but they make up less than 10 per cent of total payments received.