Billing history

Index

In 1970 the billing department at AEL&P worked quite differently than it does now. For one thing, there were only 4,673 customers compared to the 12,915 we currently have. A double entry Borroughs machine was used at that time, with one entry made on a ledger card and the other on the billing form. The bills were calculated by hand, with the meter sheets for kWh usage, a chart on the wall for kWh charges, and a calculator on the billing clerk's desk for other charges.

The addresses were stamped on the bill with metal stencils that were hand made and stored in trays. Each time a customer moved or a new customer came to town, a new stencil was made with name, address, and account number. Every now and then the tray slipped out of even the most capable of hands, with stencils going everywhere. Putting them all back in account number order was a real challenge.

Payments were entered on a separate double entry machine.

In 1975 or 76 the billing system was converted to key punch. The meter books were taken to Portland to be key punched and were then used on an IBM System 3 computer at Key Bank (then B. M. Behrends Bank).

In 1977 AEL&P contracted with Systems Northwest, a local computer company. The bills were printed on a small printer, no longer the double entry machine, but separated by hand. Several years later a burster was purchased and still later a larger printer was acquired.

In 1988 when the meter reading was converted to hand held meter reading devices, the billing system underwent a major change as well. After years of manually entering the meter readings from the meter sheets, the readings were now transferred automatically. The Itron devices are plugged in at the end of the day and down-loaded directly into a PC.

As in most other areas of the company, the billing department has continued to change with new technology and the billing system is now fully automated.