That's good to know that the utilities will come out if they haven't heard from you. I'm by myself and worry a little about being found in front of the tv after a year myself.
I didn't mean to say that seniors don't use alternate means of bill paying or technology, tho it has been my experience that many don't. On the other hand, I often have to tell my students that seniors (which for college kids seems to include people in their 50s) are not as naive about technology as they may think.
I worked with elderly blacks in Philly. Trying to get them to use direct deposit was as much to protect them from the scum that preyed on them as they went to the store or bank as it was to simplify their lives.
Location makes all the difference. I also did things somewhat differently when I lived in the 'big city'. Bad area (i.e. even worse than most, though not as bad as the worst) in San Francisco; also various places in "Greater Los Angeles". Tucson presented problems and solutions with its own tailored twists.
The present semi-isolated ranch in a county with total population of about 8,000 is completely different.