20171031Report.pdf

Avista Corp.
141 I East Mission P.O. Box 3727
Spokane, Washington 99220-0500
Telephone [phone]
Toll Free 800-727-9170
October 31,2017
State of Idaho
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472W. Washington St.
Boise,ID 83702-5983
Attention: Ms. Diane Hanian, Secretary
Case Nos. AW-E-16-01 and AVU-G-16-01 - Avista Utilities Q3 2017 Fee-Free
Payment Program Report
Dear Ms. Hanian:
On April 1,2016 the Commission issued Order No. 33494 in Case Nos. AVU-E-16-01
and AVU-G-16-01 approving Avista Corporation's, dba Avista Utilities (Avista or Company),
petition for an order authorizing accounting and ratemaking treatment of its residential fee-free
payment program. In its petition, the Company sought to defer the costs associated with offering
the fee-free payment for up to 36 months from the time the program went into effect. The fee-
free payment program was successfully launched on February 19,2017.
In its petition, the Company agreed to provide updates to the Commission every six
months about the program's progress. In the Company's Washington and Oregon jurisdictions it
agreed to provide updates to the Commission every three months. For consistency across
jurisdictions and ease of reporting, the Company will be providing updates to the tdaho
Commission every three months that coincide with the quarters of the calendar year.
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Avista's residential fee-free payment program encompasses previous methods of
payments that were assessed a fee or not available. The program includes the following payment
methods and channels:
o Credit and debit card payments made through a Customer Service Representative
(CSR), through the Company's Integrated Voice Recognition (IVR) system, through
its website as a one-time guest payment, through its website as an authenticated user,
and for Automatic Payment Service (APS) payments.
o Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments made through a CSR, through the
Company's IVR system, and through its website as a one-time guest payment.
Prior to the launch of the program customers could free of charge by ACH through the
Company's website as an authenticated user and for APS payments. Also, prior to the launch of
the program APS payments were limited to only ACH payment methods.
The following table represents the residential payment information for the Company's
Idaho customers by month:
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TotalPaymentsJanuaryFebrueryMerchAprilMavJuneJulyAuqustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Total Payrnents 99.184 I 13.208 103.789 I 09.400 l0l.931 106.273 109.977 97.555 948.84s107,528
Fiserv Payments 49.58 I 46,770 50,919 44.555 49,245 50.200 44.543 348,58 l12,768
l 1.060 l 0.836 I I.659 12.458 13,794 14.332 14.129 9l,869Fee-Free Fiseru 3,601
t2.3t4
Kubra Fee-Free
Equivalent*7,495 4,810 8 I
104. I 83Total Fee-Free 7.49s 8,41 I I 1,068 I 0,836 l 1,660 12,458 13,794 14,332 14,129
Payments as o/o
of Total
Fee-Free
7.0%85%9.8o/o 10.4%10.7%t2.2%l3.lyo 13.0o/o t4.5%tt.Oyo
Table No. I
*Kubra Fee-Free payments represent the Kubra payments received from February I't - I that would have come through the fee-fiee paymcnt program. Kubra
did not process APS payments, which Fiserv now does, including the ability for customers to sign up for APS by credit or debit card.
Table No. 2 below includes additional detail on certain payment channels. This information is highlighted to monitor hends in customers'
payment behavior. Note that the data in Table No. 2 will not subtotal to the data in Table No. I as there is overlap in payment information by
channel (i.e., "Total Card Payments" includes card payments made through APS, CSRs, the IVR, and web).
Table No.2
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Pavment Method Januarv February March April Mav June July August September October November December Total
APS by ACH 13.861 t4,970 18,645 t7,937 21,099 16.087 I 8.894 20. l 86 I 5,988 t57,667
APS by Debit or
Credit Card l0 198 465 858 914 t.360 I,769 1.692 7.266
Total APS Payments 13.861 14,980 I 8.843 18.402 21.957 17.001 20.2s4 21,955 I 7.680 't64.933
Total Card Payments 7,041 7,814 10.079 9.879 t0-744 I 1.180 t2.537 13.125 I 3.004 95.403
CSR Payments 1,793 2,190 3.019 2.60r 2.602 2.693 , 51A 2.544 ', )o7 )) r77
IVR Payments 2,668 2.913 3,501 3.35 5 3,424 3,819 3,965 3,780 3.633 3l .058
Bank Bill Payrnents 20,8s6 l 8,824 2 1.051 1 9.1 45 20.346 t9.362 I 9.585 20. I 58 t7.655
Mailed & Lobby
Payments 35.1 I I 30.422 35.521 31,467 32,152 32,298 3 I ,844 33,67t 30,t00 292,586
Pay Station Paynrents s.821 5,451 6,046 5 557 5,523 5,1 51 s,264 5,218 4,717 48,748
Web Based Pavments 2s.363 23.t74 24,184 22,376 22,907 ?o oqs 22,445 2 1,88s 20,893 liL )1)
Chart No. I below displays the payment trends from Table No. 2.
Chart No. 1
2Ot7 lD Residential Payment Trends
c@E
c
o
40,ooo
35,OOO
30,ooo
25,OOO
20,ooo
15,OOO
10,ooo
5,OOO
January February March April
--Total APS Payments +Total Card Payments
+Mailed & Lobby Payments+Pay Station Payments
Mey June
---CSR Payments
+Web Based Payments
July August
.--lVR Payments
.+Bank Bill Payments
September
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-
O
For historical comparison purposes Table No. 3 displays residential payment data from
2015 and 2016. The column labeled "Payments Subject to Convenience Fee" represents the
payments that were previously charged a fee and no longer do through the Company's fee-free
payment program.
Table No.3
Year # of Residential
Payments
Payments Subject
to Convenience Fee
oh of Total
2015 1,273,654 71,375 5.60%
2016 1,286,848 82,977 6.45%
Chart No. 2 graphically shows the trend in fee-free payments in 2017 compared to the
historical annual average ul2015 and2O16.
Chart No.2
ldaho Fee-Free Payments by Month Compared to Historical Averages
L6,U/O
L4.5o/o
t4.wo L3.O% 13
t2.2Yo
!2.@/o
7t.o%
tO.U/o LO.4% LO.7%
8.5%9.8%
8.0% 7.O%
6.O%6.5o/o
5.6%
4.O%
2.O%
o.oo/"
Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17
+2OL7
-2015Avg -2016Av9 -2OLt
Avg
Aug-17 Sep-17
To date the Company has paid invoices for February through April, of which $38,355.40
has been deferred for customer transactions through the fee-free payment program. The
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Company continues to work through the invoice reconciliation process with Fiserv and expects
to begin paymg invoices closer to the months when the expenses were incurred soon.
Please direct any questions regarding this report to Shawn Bonfield at 509-495-2782 or
shawn.bonfield(EavistacorEcom or myself at 509-495-4975 or linda. [e-mail]
Sincerely,
^4,hdd Ez"rrall
Sr. Manager Regulatory Policy
Avista Utilities
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Definitions
Automated Clearing House (ACH) - an electronic network for financial transactions in the United States.
Payments made by checking or savings accounts.
Automatic Payment Service (APS) - payment option by which a customer can sign up to have payments
automatically deducted from their checking account, savings account, debit card, or credit card on their
bill due date each month.
Bank Bill Payments - payments initiated through a customer's bank account and transferred to the
Company via ACH.
Card Payments - debit and credit card payments.
Customer Service Representative (CSR) - Avista employee who works in its Customer Service
Department and answers customer phone calls.
CSR Payments - payments taken by Avista's Customer Service Representatives over the phone.
Fiserv - Avista's payment processing vendor as of February 19,2017 .
Integrated Voice Recognition System (fVR) - Avista's automated phone system a customer first reaches
when calling the Company at I -800-227 -9187 .
IVR Payments - payments received through the Company's IVR system.
Kubra - Avista's payment processing vendor prior to February 19,2017.
Mailed & Lobby Payments - payments mailed to the Company or taken in one of the Company's lobbies
located in Spokane, Washinglon, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, or Lewiston, Idaho. These also include payments
placed in drop boxes at the Company's office centers.
Pay Station Payments - payments made at authorized Company pay stations.
Web Based Payments - payments made on the Company's website.
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