Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout20180501Report.pdfAvista Corp. 141 1 East Mission P.O. Box 3727 Spokane, Washington 99220-0500 Telephone 509-489-0500 Toll Free 800-727-9170 VIA: UTC Web Portal April30,2018 r_- -i lJ llr- L.rli.1; i)*(},:T F=ep u>{>Io 3 t\,@ C:9 +afirr)rfi EEtstLO ;@ Re: State of Idaho Idaho Public Utilities Commission 472W. Washington St. Boise,ID 83702-5983 Attention: Ms. Diane Hanian, Secretary Case Nos. AVU-E-16-01 and AVU-G-16-01 - Avista Utilities Ql 2018 Fee-Free Payment Program Report Dear Ms. Hanian: Attached for filing with the Commission is an original and seven (7) copies of Avista Corporation's, dba Avista Utilities ("Avista" of "the Company") Ql 2018 Fee-Free Payment Program Report. On April 1,2016 the Commission issued Order No. 33494 in Case Nos. AVU-E-16-01 and AVU-G-16-01 approving Avista's 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 llPage ^#vtsr,, K 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 Idaho Commission every three months that coincide with the quarters of the calendar year. Avista's residential fee-free payment program encompasses previous methods of payments that were assessed a fee or not available. The new 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 new program customers could make payments free of charge by ACH when making an electronic payment through the Company's website as an authenticated user, or when signed up for APS payments, in which payments are automatically deducted from their checking or savings account. Also, prior to the launch of the program APS payments were limited to only ACH payment methods. Table No. 1 and No. 2 below represents the residential payment information for the Company's Idaho customers by month. Note that this table represents only residential payments and that some forms of non-residential customer payments are still assessed a fee. 2lP age o o, (E o_ CO (.)htEtrc>'0.)cgLO- rrtr !d ts o,)>oo aE!rEo 50 9 -i.P! -C dr.sH x -Vv)E.r (€ bzil \EeaF€ e! Hna .tM adA \YSEL./FEdoo- C.)^-E SE cd=-CtrVO;^d €Hq p- (,)00))-Ecw)dtsPtra&tr I:tr=oiF--go{8. .^.9V5zH C)=();.:Y -O C)'(.) cg T''oF 2 =c9ode'.=:AE€ EUYo)cTL* E h€Eo. =-Cr,J-o=tr(.)i:.i:v -v,z sUA C)F -os'E,il9,U4c?ivcs56 CaP|:dUA E EoF=z t:d() o. J-r5^ E-cU?.9F6*HtrotrI9qY)to.= cl F o 0)I0) 0) q) oz c) I q) o oa O OI 0) c! 2 I cq 2 F-s-o. o\ n" \o F- c..iat o\r- N cg ()fr o, a.t r- 00 N .oo\ c.l G G t-t $t'- r-a.tvlo\ *..i NN o\ o, a 0) CB0. q 0) cB oF q) E c€ !o.9tL L a.) E.()oLlr-I0)(,) E. o\q aO9o tr=,roiyEtrO () >rF0) (O(E EO.o 6 N I(\t z q) cl Fr _: ! o -o0)E !o (J >.-oa L o. o0 o o o -o () o0 o a0)o o L0) E. o q C) (!o.a ()ooLo. o cB!-ov Lo0 o. 0) cBa-()o,i I().o 0) o0 L () Eooo rg o I >'L CB E-oo)tJ- ,t Eo (.)oc)L o cBa. -ov() () ()!a.C) a oe a.()q C) I 0,) cB 5E] (.)() EI()() fJ. !-ov* F r-\o ol\oN atN ca$ $ caN o, $o\a.lN \oq\o L0) q)c)q)\do\ o\q $ oot.-ol\o 00r-a\\o o 0,) z Os 00 oo ol a.l r- ar- r- @r- o\n\o t)o.\o\r-Nq .d- $ F- $ F- o\oo$ 0) q) 0)a F-o, a-)v'q$$ o.N s o. c..l $ o\ $ 0 OI F-F-o\oi OOc\ a.]c.)c'I$ Nc.tc1 <. o\O ca cor-N\o $o{o..+ $ tr- ca $o\\c.l \Q c.; o c.l +$ @ $-N @ n"N \oo\c.l N 2 $o. o\ o\ o\r)\o O\o\o o\F- O o\oo\r-r-\o$ \ocaoo \oc.too .oo\n ?) c! 2 ooOo{ ca oo oi$ oo oo\o o\@ o. \o C)tu too olo. oo\o\c.l \o oo$$ oo o\ oo cg ooN F- o.q F- o,$r- \o F- O c) c! q 0) CN cB F a.) CBo. r() fr. L() E C)()LE.Iq) 0)lL C)c)Ltl*o=,9' 6 s69 =orlZsl o()L I(.)(.)t& (O oF .oo\ q)!_ E-trbo >rt-(.) (B(ts r-l 5l il dl ZI -olclFI I I F c) c)q)q) q) (,) z o I 0) o) ()a 0 ul q) CE 2 q 9 2 ooc-a.lr- c.]\o c.i s c.l N\oa c.l o\ co sr-\o-$ r- r-- o\€ ao \o*\$ r-oo F-N CE q)fr \o \o00\o^ a.l r-caoo oo F- $o\ \oc.too..i F-t--o{$ € \o \o $ ooc.l c.)r-N$ F- \oc.l CB cg \oc.) (\ r-co$ ..ic.l r- c.l r- N car-\o*o\ $\o Nc.) r-oo.t sN.o^ 00N q) 2 o Lo.:.o-oyOE>.u-o.:rE<U q C) do.(h G F o (!o. U F a () (Bo. &aU q 0) (Bo. & (.) o. mj4 (E m >|ppoJdEEoOEse20. q o €o. o (ga q () o.E0)qd co 0) o 50 $ 6lt-r I I ZI -ol fll cg F ooo\ c.l s €q ooctc.] so,\c..l$ cn o,N \o \Nt r-caC\ N ..Ia.l,q ooco r-oo o.i\o F- c!$r-N 0) 0) o v $$o, o.i oo \or- \oooO.oo a.l N aa F- oo\o \o F-c.l \oca { N C'iN o o oz co o\ (\N c.l r-a.l 00^ c.l c.)o\w ooq N C.lsO.t N ("I oo cn ca \o \$ \o\ooo" a.)N q) (, 00v} c.l a N $N N oo ao\o\o. N rf, $ \o N tf,c.) c,) r= $c\l o q) q)a €ooo\ c.to\\o oo\or- $ ca F-o\C\ c.l a.)c.l\o^ a.) \or-ao F- F-s cao\00 N 0 ol \ooo Oc.l o.\o\ c.l c.l aa <t$ c..i oor- ca oo a.l F-\o- c.l oo N oooo N $o,co^ oo O\o s ol N r-c.) c.i +c.) c.l \oq ca co oi $soo co $\oc\snc.lc..t o r-@ \o $ o\r- oo cno\\o N o, oo c.) c.l\o o. ooo\c.I N o'q (\ (! 2 o\o\ c.l oo€ r- o. c..l s$F- NO\o a.t $N$ a-l \o$c.) a.I c.] 6ic.t c.)Nv} t--q atc..l F-c.)q F- \c)s c.l $ 00 o\r-.oool \o c..l C"I $ o\ r-\on ca F-r-ca c.lc.l (J (E 2 *.o^ oo ooo\ a.)$co 00 o\r- c.)c.l C.t c.lrI an \o$ \o soo +(\ (! o)lL r-o\ $ Ooo $ s oqr- o\ N c.tq N *c.l€ 00 N(\$*trl tr- coN cg cl \ooo c.t \ooo a.) * r- cao,F- oo N \o @ N c.) at€ c.)\oC"I c.l q) 2 q) G U -oao. L oyOE>,u "B<() (.) o.a oF o o. L U rg F () (no. aO () d () Cdo. co JZ ,o-ooJd{ l2Eoc)cse2L a o o CBa o. a (.) (€ !() da.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 7o 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 in 2015 and20l6. Chart No. 2 ldaho Fee-tree Payments by Month Compared to Historical Averages 20.5Y0 20.7Yo 25.trA 20.u/o 20,L0/o L9,OYO !6.4Yo 76'9% t4,5yo L4.8% 15.VA 13.0% 13.0% t2.ZYo 12.2% 8.5%LO.4o/o L0,7Yo 9.8Y07.0Y0 6.5Y0 5.6% 10.096 5.0% 0.0Y0 .lan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep -+-2018 +2017 -20154vg -2015Avg -2017Av9 -.-2018Avg Oct Nov Dec To date the Company has paid invoices through February 2018, of which $278,574 has been deferred for customer transactions through the fee-free payment progftrm. 5lPage Please direct any questions regarding this report to Shawn Bonfield at 509-495-2782 or shawn.bonfield@avistacorp.com or myself at 509-495-4975 or linda.gervais@avistacorp.com Sincerely, .4a4da Errul*to Sr. Manager Regulatory Policy Avista Utilities 6lPage 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 (lVR) - Avista's automated phone system a customer first reaches when calling the Company at l-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, Washington, 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. TlPage