New services

Our power company -- whom I like a lot -- just switched to a new billing format. On the whole, it is better and easier to understand. The brochure that came in the mail to explain it has this paragraph:

Our new billing system requires a 10-digit account number rather than the current nine-digit number. Changing account numbers may be an initial inconvenience, but this change means new services.

That sounds interesting, but I note that they do not go on to specify any of the wonderful new services this extra digit will bestow upon us. 

I am reminded of what happened a few years ago when our phone provider was bought out by another provider. During that transition, we got a similar bill telling us that they had changed our account number. To make it simpler for us, this new number incorporated our telephone number. What they did not mention was that the new account number replaced an eleven-digit number with a sixteen-digit number. 

I didn't notice any new benefits accruing there, either.