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Home My WebLink About20051017_1353.pdfDECISION MEMORANDUM TO:COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER COMMISSIONER SMITH COMMISSIONER HANSEN COMMISSION SECRETARY LEGAL WORKING FILE FROM:NANCY HYLTON DATE:OCTOBER 14, 2005 RE:ROBERT SELLERS' COMPLAINT AGAINST IDAHO POWER BACKGROUND On September 19, 2005, Robert Sellers filed a complaint against Idaho Power concerning his September 9, 2005 , statement (Attachment 1). He is disputing the way that Idaho Power pro- rated the charges for the summer and non-summer rates. Effective June 1 , 2004, the first 300 kWh during the period June 1 - August 30 each year are billed at a lower rate (the same as the non-summer rate) each month. The 30-day period covered by the disputed bill is from August 8 to September 7 2005. According to the initial e-mail sent by Mr. Sellers (Attachment 2), Idaho Power is over-charging him $.46, as well as over-charging all the other Idaho Power customers whenever the bill is pro-rated. After contacting Idaho Power, I sent Mr. Sellers an e-mail (Attachment 3) that explained how the Company arrived at the total amount billed. Following an exchange of several e-mails, Mr. Sellers filed a request on September 20 2005, to file a formal complaint (Attachment 4). A follow up e-mail summarizing his concerns is also included in Attachment 4. ST AFF ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION Since the tiered rate for summer went into effect June 1 2004, the Commission Staff has received eight complaints concerning the way Idaho pro-rates the summer rate for the first 300 kWh for June, July and August. Pro-rated bills are confusing. Customers tend to expect the Company to bill the first 300 kWh at the lower rate and the balance at the higher summer rate. DECISION MEMORANDUM - 1 - However, Idaho Power pro-rates the 300 kWh usage on the bill that covers the start of the lower summer rate, June 1 , and the bill that ends the summer rate, September 30. The vast majority of bills will be pro-rated for the beginning and ending of the higher summer rates since rarely will meter reads be done exactly on May 31 st or August 31 st. Consequently, few customers will actually be billed the full 300 kWh lower rate for June or September. The actual methodogy used by Idaho Power is contained in my first response to Mr. Sellers. No methodology concerning pro-rated bills was discussed in O.N. 29505, IPC-03- that set the tiered rate for the summer month for computing pro-rated bills. Two Staff engineers have looked at the computations on the bills and did not disagree with the method used by the Company. Although pro-rated bills are confusing and the methodology used is convoluted, Staff agrees with the Company that the total amount billed is technically correct. Therefore, I cannot recommend the Commission consider this as a formal complaint. COMMISSION DECISION Does the Commission wish to accept Mr. Seller s request to file a formal complaint and open a case? Attachments i:udmemos/sellers ipc 10 DECISION MEMORANDUM - 2- An IDACORP Company www.idahopower.com Page 2 of 2 Questions? Contact us at: PO BOX 30, Boise, 10 83721. Or call (208) 388-2323 (Treasure Valley). Se habla espano!. For faster service please call Tuesday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p. Customer Name: Account Number: Billing Date: Print Date: ROBERT & MARSHA SELLERS 09/09/2005 09/10/2005 Service Agreement No: - - Service Location: 3005 E 42NO S/MOUNTAIN HOME, 10 10/07/2005Next Read Date: Meter Service Period Number Reading Meter Readings Meter kWh Number From of Days Type Previous Current Constant Used 002111837540 08/08/05 I 09/07/05 Regular 7306 9033 1727 Res idential Rate Schedule 101 Adjustments Your Electric Use Pattern 08/08/2005 - 09/07/2005 30 days Service Charge ................................................................................... Non-Summer Energy Charge (fY $0.05428 per kWh , 7 days .................... Summer Energy Charge 0-300 kWh (fY $0.05428 per kWh, 23 days ......... Summer Energy Charge Over 300 kWh (fY $0.060936 per kWh, 23 days PCA (fY $0.006045 per kWh """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'" Conservation Program Funding Charge """""""""""""""""""""""'" Federal Columbia River Benefits Supplied by BPA ................................. Current Charges - Electric Service $3. $21. $12.48 $66. $10.44 $1. $1.56 CR $114. Corrected Bill Segment """"""""""""""""""""""""""".................. Corrected Bill Segment ........................................................................ Current Adjustments $135. $136. $0.15 CR CR = Credit kWh = Kilowatt-hour PCA = Power Cost Adjustment kW = Kilowatt BlC = Basic load Capacity G = Generation ..c: ;:., :s: CI! ~ Q; 0::( c.. 66.55. Sep-04 Oct-04 Nov-04 Oec-04 Jan-05 Feb-05 Mar-05 Apr-05 May-05 Jun-Jul-05 Aug-05 Sep- If writing information below, please check the appropriate box on the reverse side.Account Number: .... Dt\HO -. POWER AnlDACORPCompany NEW CONTACT INFORMATION: Does Idaho Power have your correct mailing address and phone number? If not, please write any changes below: , PROJECT SHARE PLEDGE Please add the amount indicated to my monthly bill. C'.f,t $10 Name Street Apt./Suite I would like to make a one-time contribution in the amount of $ City Zip Code Please round-up my monthly bill amount to the nearest dollar and contribute the difference to Project Share,State Thank you and please remember to track your tax-deductible donations.Telephone Number PP7HZS 00015055 I 00031151 Attachment Decision Memorandum 10/14/05 Page 1 of2 Page 1 of 2 Questions? Contact us at: PO BOX 3D, Boise, 10 83721. Or call (208) 388-2323 ~Treasure Valley). Se habla espano!. For faster service please call Tuesday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p. Customer Name: Account Number: Billing Date: Print Date: ROBERT & MARSHA SELLERS An IDACORP Company www.idahopower.com 09/09/2005 09/10/2005 Due Date 09/26/2005 Please Pay $114. Account Activity Previous Balance ............................................................................,......... Payments - Thank You ..................................,...............,............................ Balance Forward ........................................................................................ Total Adjustments """"""""""""""""""""""""""".........................,...... Current Charges ..........................................................................,............. Account Balance $136. $136.12 CR $0. $0.15 CR $114. $114. Please Note: Any unpaid balances will be assessed a monthly charge of one percent (1 %) for Idaho customers. Returned checks may be resubmitted electronically for payment. Checks remaining unpaid will be charged a $20 fee. Billing Adjustment Message This bill includes an adjustment to correct a processing error that caused charges for the Conservation Program Funding Charge to be incorrectly calculated on your previous bill(s). For the correct amount of your previous bill(s) refer to the Adjustments section. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this processing error. Please contact Customer Service at the number listed above if you have any questions. Please detach and return the portion below with your payment. Please bring entire statement when paying at a pay station. PO BOX 30 BOISE, 10 83721 (208) 388-2323 (Treasure Valley)An IDACORP Company Amount Enclosed Please write your account number on your check or money order made payable to Idaho Power. Project Share pledge noted on reverse side. Address/Phone Correction noted on reverse side. 11.1111.1111111 1..111..1111.1111.111.11.11.111.1..1111 11.1..111111..11.11..111.111 111.11.1..1111.111.1111..III 10AHO POWER O. BOX 30 BOISE , 1083721-0030 1111111 .11.111' 111 1. III, 111111 .1111 11111.1111 11111.1111 11111. T201 00015055 ROBERT & MARSHA SELLERS 3005 E 42ND S MOUNTAIN HOME, 1083647-5533 1111 111.1111 11'11 1..11111 111 111.1111.11.111111 11111 111 PP7HZS 00015055 00031150 Attachment Decision Memorandum 10/14/05 Page 2 of2 Page 1 of 1 Nancy Hylton ............................ .. ..... ....................... ,""",,'... m.... ............. m..m'... ...~.."..".."........ .""" ... .............,........ .. From: RDSELLE(fYaoLcom Sent: Monday, September 19 2005 11 :37 AMTo: Nancy Hylton Subject: Power Bill I have a question regarding my Idaho Power Bill for the period of 8/8/05 to 9/7/05. I used 1727 kWh during this 30 day period which averages out to 57.5 kWh (Idaho Power s figure) used per day. Using Idaho Power billing rates: Seven (7) days in Sept. (57.5 kWh x 7=402.5) 402.5 kWh x $0.05428=$21. This leaves 1324.5 kWh for the remaining 23 days First 300 kWh billed at $0.05428 300 kWh x $0.05428=$16. This leaves 1024.5 kWh billed at $0.060936 1024.5 kWh x $0.060936=$62.43 Total of the charges for the kWh used in this 30 day period should be $ 100. According to my bill: The 7 days in Sept. was $21. The first 300 kWh was $12.48 The remaining 1024.5 kWh was $66. Total from my bill for this 30 day period was $101. This is a $0.46 overcharge. Could you get an answer from Idaho Power as to why the numbers do not match. While on my bill this is not a large amount, multiply this by the number of Idaho Power customers and it adds up. Robert D. Sellers Mt. Home, Idaho ,:r- Attachment 2 Decision Memorandum 10/14/05 10/6/2005 Mr. Sellers: We get pretty the same question at the beginning and end of the summer rate period when Idaho Power pro-rates the bills. I going going to add the explanation from Idaho Power since the company can explain it better than I can. The engineer at the Commission that worked on the rate design for the tiered summer rates agrees with the way Idaho Power computes the bills. Please let me know if you have additional comments or questions. Nancy Hylton Utilities Compliance Investigator Step Prorate Non-Summer kWh's by using the following process... * Total Usage divided by # of days in Billing Cycle 1727kWh/30days = 57.57kWh per day NEXT- * Take average kWh's/day multiplied by prorated # of days 57.57/day x 7days = 402.96kWh NEXT- * Take prorated kWh's multiplied by rate 402.96kWh x .05428 = $21. Step 2 Prorate 0-300kWh's by using the following process... * Take 300kWh divided by total # of days in the Billing Cycle 300kWh/30days = 10kWh per day NEXT- * Take average kWh's/day multiplied by prorated # of days 10kWh x 23days = 230kWh NEXT - * Take prorated kWh's multiplied by the rate 230kWh x .05428 = $12.48 Attachment 3 Decision Memorandum 10/14/05 Page 1 of 2 Step 3 Prorate 300kWh's and over by using the following process... * Total Usage minus the 300kWh's (from the lower Summer Energy charge) 1727kWh - 300kWh = 1427kWh N EXT- * Take remaining kWh's divided by total # of days in Billing Cycle 1427kWh/30days = 47 .57kWh per day NEXT- * Take average kWh's per day multiplied by prorated # of days 47.57/day x 23days = 1094.11 kWh NEXT- * Take remaining kWh's multiplied by the rate 1094.11 kWh x .060936 = $66. Attachment 3 Decision Memorandum 10/14/05 Page 2 of 2 WWW Form Submission: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 4:51:37 PM Name: Robert D. Sellers Street Address: 3005 E. 42 S City: Mt. Home State: Idaho ZIP: a3647 Home - Te 1 ephone : Work Telephone: sameMail: rdselle~aol. com Home Business: Home Business Name: Business Street Address: Bus ine s s Phone: Complaint Company: idaho power Local Provider: Contacted utility: yes Complaint description: To: Idaho Public Utility Commission Secretary My Formal Complaint is in regards to the computation of my power bill from Idaho Power covering the dates of a/a/05 to 9/7/05. I was billed for 1727 kWh for this 30 day period. Since the time period covered the non-summer billing rate, idaho power went into their form of prorating my bill: using the 1727 kWh divided by the days in the billingcycle (30), they said my usage was 57.57 per day for the 30 days-but this only applied to the seven (7)days in Sept. Saying I used 402.96 kWh in Sept, I was billed $21.a7 at $0.0542a/kWh. This is the only part of the bill I agree with. Then for the remaining 23 days, they proceeded to reuse the 1727 kWh and the total 30 days in the billing cycle to prorate the remaining 1324 . 04 kWh I used in this billing period. With the result, I believe, of overcharging me by $0.46 ($101.02-$100.56). The amount for me is not much but done to each of idaho power I s customers adds up to some real money (at least for me) . If the first 300 kWh during the summer are charged at a set rate, there is no need to prorate the usage-if it i"s used over one day or 23 days. And since the remaining 1024.04 kWh is charged over the higher set summer rate which usage occurred all during the month of August, there is no need to prorate either. This is the way it was done on my bill for 7/a/05 to a/a/05, i. first 300 kWh at $0. 0542a and the remaining kWh (for that bill it was 1752 kWh) at $0.060936. The usage was not prorated over the 31 days of that bill. I have worked the numbers out for your employee, Nancy Hylton , but she does not agree with my math and I do not agree with the math used by idaho power especially when they use the same numbers twice. I feel the convoluted method used by idaho power is wrong and that its customers are beingovercharged. Mrs. Hylton can furnish my numbers and the ones used by idahopower. I dislike the thought of even looking closer at my bill for the change to the summer rates in the spring, as the same overcharging probably there also. Robert D. Sellers Mt. Home, Idaho Attachment 4 Decision Memorandum 10/14/05 Page 1 of2 From: RDSELLE(Q)aol.com (mailto:RDSELLE(Q)aol.com) Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 11:01 AM To: Nancy Hylton Subject: Power bill I think the major problem with the bill is with idaho power s convoluted method of prorating- instead of paying for 300 kWh at the lower summer rate, I paid for 230 kWh which means I paid for more at the higher summer rate than I should have. Again , if the first 300 kWh falls in the summer billing ,period , there.i~ not any reason to "prorate" it. It does not matter when I used it the first 300 kWh is billed at the set rate and the kWh remaining (from the 402.96 in Sept and the first 300) is billed at the higher summer rate. Robert D. Sellers Mt. Home, Idaho Attachment 4 Decision Memorandum 10/14/05 Page 2 of2