In an effort to rebrand the the department, Starkville Utilities will launch a new portal to its website in the coming months. The group has a new logo following the inclusion of the water department in departmental operations last year.
The planned portal feature will let customers view water and electricity usage in a more detailed way, Starkville Utilities General Manager Terry Kemp said.
"The customer will look at patterns in a more granular pattern instead of monthly snapshots," Kemp said. "It will be down to a snapshot of days and hours."
The new informative platform should be introduced within the next six months, Kemp said. The current website will include updated logos and slight design changes within the coming weeks but not impact customer billing.
Nationally, when customers have more access to information they are able to grasp utility usage in a more manageable way, he added.
"It's proven that if people pay in smaller intervals or get more engaged in their daily usage, customers use less," Kemp said. "From our standpoint, it's not about selling more than people need, but it promotes a chance for customers to get better value out of the provided services."
Starkville Utilities currently offers a mobile phone application to pay all bills, an online payment system and an in-person payment option for utility customers. A slight percentage fee is added for paying online.
The rebranding effort was spurred on after aldermen approved the departmental consolidation. A team from the department worked with designers from Blue Fish Design in Starkville to rework a new logo to reflect an inclusive, streamlined entity.
"The colors reflect the merger with the blue and the yellow," Kemp said. "The overlay of the water drop and the lightbulb is how the connection works. It's a unified logo."
Following the merger, Starkville Utilities worked to implement new logos on all service vehicles and employee uniforms. The department currently has 80 employees and will expand in the future, he said.
"Our rebranding was a fresh start," Kemp said. "Although you had two strong groups, we wanted to come together for something new. We wanted something to reflect the partnership inside the utilities and how it was perceived by the public."
The coordinated effort was done in part to coincide with the rapid growth around the city, Kemp said.
"We are fortunate for the growth in our community," Kemp said. "From a utilities perspective whether it's electric, water, sewer or other features, there is a planning aspect. A lot of utilities can fit together. It makes sense that as we approach projects, we look at utilities as one thing."
Current Projects
The department recently completed pipe laying for the Louisville Street fresh water infrastructure project. Through the project, 2,000 feet of modernized piping was added to replace aging metal piping with durable plastic lines.
Starkville Utilities was approved in January to begin a Northside Drive drainage project to alleviate flooding issues in the area.
Kemp commended the community's patience in dealing with wastewater issues throughout the Banyan Road system. The plan will update a forced main collection system throughout the area that serves northeast Starkville, he said.
The project billed at around $700,000 will commence will be "starting very soon" after construction meetings next week, Kemp said.