ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For years, News10NBC has been exposing major customer service and billing issues at Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E).

Since our investigations, the utility has been working to get back on track.  

In an effort to pull itself up and out of a customer service nightmare that we’ve been investigating for years, RG&E has brought on hundreds of new customer service agents to field calls from customers with issues, to iron out kinks in its new billing system, and to help with the region-wide rollout of smart meters. 

Now, it’s launching an artificial intelligence pilot program aimed at reaching customers who prefer digital communication over the old fashioned telephone.  

“The AI energy assistant is not intended to replace the call center,” says Shelby Cohen with RG&E. “It’s just a shortcut for customers to be able to get some help when they are on our website and looking for answers to some basic questions that they might have about their bills.”

The AI is named Ava. It should pop up as a small dialog box in the bottom righthand corner when you visit the RG&E website. 

Jennifer Lewke, News10NBC: “Does Ava have the ability to look up a specific bill and a specific account or is it just general answers?

Shelby Cohen, RG&E: “She does, she does. She can look up your account balance for you. She can look up meter reads and stuff like that. So, yes.

Jennifer Lewke: “Can she handle a customer service issue of complaint?

Shelby Cohen: “We’re still in a pilot phase right now. So it depends on the complaint.”

The utility says it’s just an options, and if it’s not a good enough one for you, the call center is still fully staffed.