InvoiceCloud Customer Alaska Village Electric Cooperative Honored in Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative’s Best Practices Awards

April 01, 2025 at 09:00 AM EDT

InvoiceCloud, a leading solution for digital bill payment services, celebrates customer Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) for its recognition in the eighth annual Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) 2025 Best Practices Awards. AVEC has been honored with the Culture Transformation Award for upgrading its billing operations to a digital payment system with InvoiceCloud, and transforming the cooperative’s relationship with its members in the process.

AVEC is a non-profit, community-owned electric utility serving the largest area of any electric power cooperative in the world, covering 59 Alaskan villages—58 of which can only be reached by plane or boat. Before switching to InvoiceCloud, the remoteness of its customer base was a constant challenge due to postal services frequently delivering bills and remittances at a delay. The cooperative had only seven customers enrolled in AutoPay and no options for paperless billing, resulting in delinquent payments and the risk of electricity shutoffs. As a result, AVEC implemented InvoiceCloud to overhaul its billing process to streamline utility payments, introduce paperless billing, and make AutoPay more accessible. This digital transformation was not only a technological upgrade but also a lifeline for many members who rely on electricity to preserve food obtained through subsistence lifestyles. Since going live with InvoiceCloud in June 2021, AVEC went from having no paperless billing option to enrolling over 6,500 members in the new offering, in addition to a 250x increase in AutoPay enrollment, and an average monthly savings of over $20,000 on invoicing costs, as of September 2024.

“Our customers play an incredibly important role in their communities, and we are proud of the part our solutions play in helping those communities by providing more accessible and sustainable payment alternatives that turn complex processes into engaging digital experiences,” said InvoiceCloud CEO Kevin O’Brien.

SECC’s Best Practices Awards recognize leadership from electricity providers in the U.S. and Canada in the transition to a smarter, more consumer-focused energy ecosystem. The awards highlight programs, technologies, and strategies that have proven to deliver significant benefits for residential and/or small business utility customers.

“Innovation is essential to meeting customer needs amid the energy transition,” said SECC’s President & CEO Nathan Shannon. “This year’s six winners showcase the innovative ways that electricity providers are helping consumers and small businesses address the challenges they are facing and meet their energy goals. We hope these inspiring examples will encourage further customer-focused innovation in the industry.”

For more information on InvoiceCloud’s story with Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, click here.

About InvoiceCloud

InvoiceCloud provides modern digital payment, customer engagement, and outbound disbursement solutions. The company services more than 3,200 customers across the utility, government and insurance industries and is a leader in the electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) space. InvoiceCloud’s SaaS platform enables continuous enhancements to the customer experience resulting in higher digital payment, AutoPay, and paperless adoption rates. By switching to InvoiceCloud, clients can improve customer engagement and satisfaction while lowering costs, accelerating payments, and reducing staff workloads. To learn more, visit InvoiceCloud.com.

About the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC)

The Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to learn the wants and needs of energy consumers in North America, encourages the collaborative sharing of best practices in consumer engagement among industry stakeholders, and educates the public about the benefits of smart energy and energy technology. To learn more, visit www.smartenergycc.org or follow our Company Page on LinkedIn.