Paying electric bills just got even easier for customers of FirstEnergy's seven electric utility companies – Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Pennsylvania Electric, Pennsylvania Power, Metropolitan Edison and Jersey Central Power & Light. The companies now offer electronic bill payment through banks and financial institutions. Using this new electronic billing service, customers can view their monthly electric bills securely through online banking accounts at more than 3100 financial institutions. The new electronic billing service is provided by Fiserv, Inc., a provider of financial services technology solutions.

"This service offers the added convenience of using an existing online banking account to view and pay electric bills, at the same time and in the same way that customers pay other monthly bills," said John E. Paganie, vice president of Customer Service and Energy Efficiency for FirstEnergy. "We still offer traditional electronic billing through our company website, as well as direct bank account debit payments, mail and walk-in payment options at local retailers."

Customers may sign up for this electronic billing service through their financial institution web site. A list of participating institutions is available at www.ebillplace.com. When customers sign up for electronic billing, they will have the option to receive both electronic and paper bills for three months. This allows customers to get comfortable with the electronic version without giving up the paper bill entirely. After that, they can choose to continue electronic billing only or revert back to paper billing. The new electronic billing service includes due-date reminder alerts and automatic payment options.

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio.