Georgia Power will close its business office at 923 W. Oglethorpe Highway in Hinesville in October, the utility confirmed last week.

In response to an email from the Coastal Courier, Georgia Power spokeswoman Ashley Stukes said that in mid-October, the utility will operate 27 business offices across the state, with two to three in each region.

“These 27 offices are the busiest in the state, with the majority handling more than 100,000 customer transactions per year,” she said.

Stukes said this is among “several organizational changes to better allow us to meet the changing needs of our customers...”

“Over the past decade, payment transactions have shifted from traditional business offices and mail to electronic payments (online, mobile and auto-draft), which currently account for more than 50 percent of all payments,” she said.

Another change is the utility plans to expand its network of payment locations from more than 2,700 now to 5,300 locations in grocery and retail stores by the end of the year, Stukes said.