Atlanta, January 18, 2012 — PayGo Electric announced a pilot program with Georgia Power to study the commercial feasibility of providing the option of a prepaid electric service to the company's existing and future customers.

PayGo's technology embeds logic in the communications modules, the smart meter, or the system servers that can alert both the customer and the utility of the need to add credit to a customer's account for continued electric service.

The process is similar to the wireless market where 20 percent of consumers use prepaid payment options. The system can leverage a utility's existing assets while it includes a nationwide payment-processing platform enabling utilities to use existing, as well as new payment methods for their customers.

This new technology allows customers to be continuously informed of their account status and enables them to pay for their electricity on a schedule that best fits their needs.

Mobile devices and banking services have increased consumer expectations for real-time information. Unlike previous prepayment systems, which have been given high satisfaction ratings by consumers in other states and countries, there are no trips required outside of the home to purchase additional electricity.

With PayGo, customers can contact the utility to "top up" their account directly with a mobile device, make online payments, recharge at various retail outlets, or use a number of additional payment methods. The PayGo solution calculates the consumer's actual consumption at the meter and alerts customers real-time as they reach predetermined spending levels.