Washington Gas is a regulated utility providing natural gas service to more than 1.2 million customers in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. 

In March 2020, COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Soon after, as businesses shut down and people faced layoffs, 32 states, and Washington, D.C. implemented moratoria on utility shut-offs. These legislative acts were put in place to protect the health and wellness of citizens and left Washington Gas unable to perform any collection activity.

 Outstanding utility bills were deferred for 12 or 24 months, leaving a gap in revenue for Washington Gas.

 In November 2020, Virginia released COVID relief funds available for customers to pay their utility bills. Washington Gas needed a way to quickly and effectively communicate with people that the funds were available and obtain signed attestations from eligible customers.

Washington Gas approached Tilli, its communications and payment processing provider, to develop a multichannel communication approach to:

1. Make customers aware of the relief options available to them.

2. Obtain digitally signed attestations to provide proof to the regulatory authorities.

3. Help them receive those funds to pay their outstanding utility bills.

Fill out the form below to download the case study.