20061214_1758.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:CO MMISSI 0 NER KJELLAND ER
CO MMISSI 0 NER SMITH
COMMISSIONER HANSEN
COMMISSION SECRETARY
LEGAL .
WORKING FILE
FROM:WAYNE HART
DATE:DECEMBER 8, 2006
RE:CENTURYTEL TARIFF ADVICE INTRODUCING CHARGE
FOR ADDITIONAL COpy OF BILL. CENTURYTEL OF IDAHO
ADVICE NO. 06-06 AND CENTURYTEL OF THE GEM STATE
ADVICE NO. 06-05.
On September 11 2006, CenturyTel submitted two essentially identical tariff advices
CenturyTel of the Gem State Advice No. 06-05 and CenturyTel ofIdaho Advice No. 06-05.
These tariff advices introduce a new charge for providing customers with an additional copy of
their bill. Residential customers would be charged $4.00 and business customers would be
charged $7.00 for each additional copy of a bill requested by the customer. The Company also
provided a cost study that indicated the proposed rate would cover estimated costs, and provide a
reasonable margin. The Company requested an October 11 , 2006 effective date. That date
request was subsequently suspended to allow the Company time to answer Staffs questions.
STAFF ANALYSIS
Providing customers with a copy of their bills is typically considered a cost of doing
business, and is recovered in existing rates. Staff asked the Company why it was proposing to
charge for this service; the Company indicated it had seen a "noticeable increase" in the number
of requests for such copies, and that this had changed from an insignificant cost to a measurable
cost. Since the cost for the service was attributable to specific customers, the Company felt it
was more appropriate to recover the costs from the specific customers, rather than the general
ratepayers.
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 1 -DECEMBER 8, 2006
The Company further explained that this was a CenturyTel-wide observation, rather than
an Idaho-specific event. The Company has not tracked the number of requests and could not
provide specific numbers to quantify the increase, but indicated the increase was significant and
that providing copies of bills had become a noticeable cost cause. It could not identify whether
the increase was due to persons seeking multiple copies or filing multiple requests, nor did it
have an explanation for why it was seeing an increase.
Staff inquired about alternate options, such as limiting the number of copies provided
without a charge, or expanding the number of bills available on the web site. The Company
indicated it had filed this same change in all of its States and it had a strong preference for
consistency among states. In addition, the Company indicated the cost of keeping track of the
number of requests for bill copies a customer had made, or expanding the web site, would be
onerous.
In response to Staff s concerns, the Company provided an analysis of the most recent
month's requests for bill copies. Out of approximately a thousand requests nationwide, only 10
requests were received from Idaho customers, all of which were for a single copy of the most
recent bill.
Staff asked if the Company would revise its customer service scripts to notify customers
that a requested bill was available online before providing a copy and imposing the charge, and
the Company agreed. The three most recent bills are available at no charge from the Company
website.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
While Stafftypically supports recovering the costs of a service from those who cause the
cost to be incurred, Staff was reluctant to support this tariff advice. The Company provided
minimal justification for imposing a charge for a service that's costs have historically been built
into existing rates. Staff would have much preferred a tariff change that targeted those
requesting multiple copies or those making multiple requests - the "abusers" of the current policy
of not charging for bill copies.
However, with the agreement of the Company to notify customers of the option to avoid
incurring a charge by obtaining a copy of recent bills from the website, Staff believes the needs
of most customers can still be addressed without charges. Staff also understands the benefits of
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 2 -DECEMBER 8 , 2006
maintaining consistent tariffs throughout the CenturyTel system. Therefore, Staff recommends
the Commission approve these CenturyTel tariff advices.
COMMISSION DECISION
Does the Commission wish to approve CenturyTel of the Gem State Tariff Advice No.
06-06 and CenturyTel of Idaho Tariff Advice No. 06-05?
i:udmemos/centurytel biB charge dm
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 3 -DECEMBER 8, 2006