City unveils rebranded utilities department

The City of Douglas announced today the formation of the Douglas Utilities Department that will consist of electric, water/wastewater, and gas divisions.  The new Douglas Utilities Department director will be longtime employee and Gas/Water/Wastewater Director Michael Hudson.  Along with merging these departments, the City will roll out a new branding campaign beginning with a new Douglas Utilities logo and new residential utilities bill, while also changing the name of the Customer Service Department to the Utility Billing and Payments Department with Tommy Harrell as the manager. 

Citizens will also notice new decals on Douglas Utilities vehicles, and the new logo will be on Douglas Utilities employee uniforms.  Although the stormwater and sanitation divisions do not fall under Hudson’s day-to-day management, those divisions are considered utility services and are included in the branding campaign.

“We are trying to brand our new Douglas Utilities Department,” says City Manager Terrell Jacobs.  “The Douglas Utilities branding campaign will create new educational and informative materials, public speaking opportunities, and bring citizen awareness to utility services that are provided by the Douglas Utilities Department.  We hope that by making these changes, citizens will recognize what services their Douglas Utilities bill consists of instead of assuming it is only an electric bill.”

During the first billing cycle in October, a new residential utility bill will be introduced to Douglas Utilities customers.  The bill will be easy to read and will consist of a breakdown of services and the usage of these services each month.  Several education pieces have been created to make reading the residential Douglas Utilities bill easy for customers.

The existing 311 Customer Care Center will assist Douglas Utilities with educating the public on the changes and how to properly read their new residential utility bill.

For more information about the Douglas Utilities Department, contact the Customer Care Department by dialing 311 or call 912-384-3302.

- Submitted