UI Invests in Improvements to Customer Service, Adds New Features
Recent innovations in digitizing the customer experience enhance functionality and convenience for users
ORANGE, Conn. — August 11, 2025 — Today, United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc., announced several improvements to its customer service and customer experience offerings, including an updated mobile app in development (Mobile App 2.0), new payment features and functionalities, and improved informational support, especially in the form of its online AI-driven customer assistant known as “Ava.” As the company also expands its opportunities to meet in-person with Customer Service Representatives at its regular enrollment events, the recent and upcoming enhancements in the digital space follow more than two years of systematic upgrades to UI’s digital experience and user interface.
“At UI, our priority is our customers and ensuring they have positive interactions with us each and every time, whether online, on the phone, or in person at one of our Customer Enrollment Events,” said Frank Reynolds, President & CEO of UI. “As more of our customers turn to our digital options for payment and other assistance, we have responded by enhancing these platforms and resources to ensure they are as convenient and easy to use as possible. These recent investments we have made to our customer service platforms will provide customers with even more information, support, and convenience than before, and we look forward to even more improvements in our customer satisfaction.”
Among UI’s new enhancements are the next-generation Mobile App 2.0, powered by a native-first design and architecture, which is currently set to launch later this year. The new app design aims to increase overall customer experience throughout the mobile journey. The current mobile app has recently released features now available, such as the mobile app wallet and “stop service” feature. The wallet is an enhancement to the payment journey for eBill customers, where they can save payment methods in the form of a “wallet” along with a more intuitive user interface. This upgrade has resulted in a year-over-year increase in successful payment. Customers benefit from the “stop service” feature by experiencing simple and efficient support of a request to end electric service when they move out, and a higher proportion of customers are choosing to use the Mobile App rather than the website to request this service.
Additional updates have been made to the Ava Energy Assistant, an AI-driven customer assistant that handles both generic and account-specific queries and provides immediate information. As of July 2025, Ava now offers a new outage flow, enabling customers to access outage data without needing to log in.
Within the past two years, new payment features have been introduced for added convenience and flexibility. ApplePay and Google Pay are now accepted as payment options, giving customers a modern and quick alternative for paying their bill. A payment agreement functionality was also put in place, which offers customers a more flexible method of payment.
After each digital enhancement is deployed, UI’s Digital Strategy & Customer Experience team tracks customer feedback and quantitative metrics, to ensure that the innovations being released are having the intended impact. Each of the investments made by the UI team has driven notable improvements, including improved satisfaction scores, increased adoption of new self-service tools, and even feedback on new features for the company to develop next.
“It is important for our customers to have all of the information they need, and for it to be easily accessible and understood,” said Tracey Pelella, VP of Customer Service at UI. “The new improvements and offerings give a higher level of support and have resulted in greater customer satisfaction. We remain committed to listening to customer pain points and working towards a seamless user experience.”
Media Contact:
Angela Baccaro