It estimates that by the end of this year 330,000 customers will have signed up for the service, which will save the firm 3m.
Despite the plan to reduce the percentage of printed bills it claims it will not have any impact on its print production sites in Northampton and Manchester where all its bills are printed and mailed.
We dont see any immediate impact on print suppliers as we are acquiring new customers, who are using paper-based billing, said head of communications Mish Tullar.
The two sites currently dispatch 134m envelopes a year, 75m of which are bills to its 15m customers.
The cost benefits for us are mainly in postage costs, said communications officer Donna McDowall.
British Gas has begun promoting the plan, backed by publicity using employee and Big Brother contestant Jon Tickle. The service will go live in the third week of September.
Other Centrica-owned firms the AA and OneTel are watching British Gas project, but so far there are no plans from either to switch to paperless billing.
The switch to paperless billing was described as a when, not an if, by Xplor chairman (and Edotech commercial director) James Shand. He also said that several enablers were needed before adoption was widespread.
I dont think the UK is ready to accept it, he said, there needs to be more functionality, but it will grow as enablers come on.
He described the enablers as the greater penetration of internet access, the adoption of broadband and the development of consolidators websites that allow transactions with multiple utilities on one site just like your doormat.
He also said that there would remain a need for printed summaries and a back up even in an e-billing environment.
Story by Barney Cox
