20080627Brilz direct.pdf

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION
OF IDAHO POWER COMPANY FOR
AUTHORITY TO INCREASE ITS RATES
AND CHARGES FOR ELECTRIC SERVICE.
CASE NO. IPC-E-O8-
IDAHO POWER COMPANY
DIRECT TESTIMONY
MAGGIE BRILZ
Please state your name and business address.
My name is Maggie Brilz.My business
address is 1221 West Idaho Street, Boise, Idaho.
capacity?
By whom are you employed and in what
I am employed by Idaho Power Company as
Manager of Customer Service.
Please describe your educational background.
In May of 1980 , I received Bachelor of Arts
degrees in Economics and Psychology from Smith college in
Northampton , Massachusetts.In 1998 , I completed the
University of Idaho's Public Utilities Executive Course in
Moscow, Idaho.I have also attended numerous seminars
conferences , and courses involving public utility
regulation.
Please describe your business experience
wi th Idaho Power Company.
I started employment with Idaho Power
Company in November of 1984 as a Financial Analyst in the
Planning Department.In 1986 I was promoted to the
position of Rate Analyst in the Rate Department.In July
of 1993, I was promoted to Rate Design Supervisor.
October of 1996, I was promoted to Pricing Director in the
Pricing and Regulatory Services Department.My duties as
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Idaho Power Company
Pricing Director included overall management of the
development of rate design and pricing strategies, the
analysis of the impact on customers of rate design changes,
the preparation of cost-of-service studies , and the
administration of the Company s tariffs.I was promoted to
my current position as Manager of Customer Service in May
In my current position, I am responsible for the2008.
overall operation of the Company's Customer Service Center,
including incoming call handling, credit and collection
acti vi ty and customer account management.
What is the purpose of your testimony in
this proceeding?
I will describe the various improvements and
initiatives Idaho Power has undertaken over the past
several years relating to its customer service activities.
Before proceeding with details on the
Company s customer service improvements and initiatives,
would you please briefly describe Idaho Power s business
model for providing customer service?
Idaho Power operates a centralizedYes.
Customer Service Center ("CSC") that provides customers
full service access to Customer Service Representatives
CSRs") weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and outage
and emergency access to Customer Service Specialists
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Idaho Power Company
( "
CSSs ) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Other benefits
of our centralized Customer Service Center include a single
phone number for customers in the Treasure Valley, a single
toll- free 800 number for customers outside the Treasure
Valley, consistency in service and information regarding
our policies and procedures, and prompt service with over
80 percent of our inbound calls answered within 30 seconds.
The Customer Service Center employs a well-trained
staff with specific customer service skills and uses state
of the art technology.Calls are monitored for quality and
to provide on-going training support to personnel.
performance management system is utilized to provide
feedback to ensure that our customers receive superior
customer service.
Idaho Power employs bilingual CSRs that provide
service to the Company s Spani sh - speaking cus tomers .
Addi tionally, we utilize a third-party language service to
help us communicate with other non-English speaking
cus tomers .
In addi tion to the services provided by CSRs during
business hours and by CSSs 24/7, Idaho Power provides its
customers access to account and outage information 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, through an Interactive Voice
Response ("IVR") unit.Through the IVR, customers can make
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Idaho Power Company
payment arrangements retrieve billing, payment , and meter
reading information , sign up for Budget Pay, access energy
efficiency and usage information, and receive information
on outages.Twenty- four hours a day account access via the
Company s Web site also allows customers the same "self-
help" options available through the IVR plus the ability to
start and stop service and engage in an energy usage
analysis for their home or small business.
Outside of the Customer Service Center , Idaho Power
provides customer service through its operations centers
located throughout the service territory.The operations
centers are primarily responsible for building, operating,
and maintaining the Company's distribution facilities-
These centers are open Monday through Friday for general
business activities primarily related to service
installations and line extensions.
Idaho Power manages its operations to respond to
emergency situations and after-hours service connection
requests 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is staffed
at 13 strategically located service centers throughout the
service territory to ensure quick response as well as a
presence wi thin the communi ties we serve.
Each of the operations centers has a drop box
available for check or money order payments.In addition,
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Idaho Power Company
each center also provides assistance to customers via a
direct telephone line to the Customer Service Center and
can direct customers to the appropriate personnel for non-
customer service related inquiries.
Idaho Power also has representatives staffed locally
within the regions to accommodate customers at their homes
or businesses.Personal assistance from the Company ' s
Customer Representatives is available for customers in all
customer classes regarding billing inquiries , energy
efficiency programs, power quality, and other inquiries
best accommodated through face-to-face interaction at the
customer'S residence or business.In addition , large
industrial and commercial customers have a dedicated
representative who actively manages their accounts.These
large customers have telephone access to their
representative as well as to the Company s dispatch center
for emergency assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
What changes have been made during the past
several years to improve the service provided through the
Customer Service Center?
Over the past several years the Company has
increased its focus on improved training of our CSRs, on
internal quality improvements , and on improvements to the
usability of the IVR.
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Idaho Power Company
Please describe the training program for the
Company s CSRs.
Idaho Power uses skills-based routing to
direct inbound calls to CSRs who are best trained to handle
the particular call.The Company s training is structured
such that CSRs prog~ess through a skills-based program to
ensure that mastery of certain skills is attained prior to
moving into more detailed or complicated types of services.
New CSRs spend approximately four weeks in classroom
training.As part of this training, they spend time with
mentors who are the most experienced CSRs-During the
mentoring sessions the new CSRs listen to inbound calls and
observe how the calls are handled.Once the formal
classroom training is completed the new CSRs are paired
with their mentors while they handle calls until the CSR
the mentor, and the trainer all are confident the CSR can
handle calls on his or her own.As the CSR's experience
grows, additional training to enhance the CSR's skills to
handle more complex issues, such as new construction and
commercial and irrigation service requests, is conducted.
The Company also has a call monitoring and coaching
program that is designed to develop the overall knowledge
skills, and abilities of our CSRs.On a monthly basis
each CSR has two recorded phone calls that are reviewed
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Idaho Power Company
with his or her supervisor.The calls are reviewed for
both how well the CSR handled the interaction with the
customer and how accurate the CSR was in processing the
transaction.In addition, each supervisor spends 30
minutes of phone time with each CSR on a monthly basis.
During these one-on-one sessions, the supervisor listens to
the CSR's interaction with customers and provides on-the-
spot coaching and assistance to enhance the CSR'
knowledge, skills, and abilities.
What changes have been made over the past
several years regarding quality improvement?
The Company has developed an internal
quality assurance program that focuses on identifying
trends and issues related to customer complaints and CSR
Each month the Customer Service Qualityaccuracy.
Administrator prepares "complaint" reports detailing all
customer contacts in which the customer expressed some
level of dissatisfaction with the Company.The trends and
issues identified through these reports are reviewed by the
Company s management to determine areas of customer concern
that can be addressed with process or system changes.
addition, the Customer Service Quality Administrator
prepares monthly reports detailing the accuracy rates for
each of the CSRs.These reports are likewise reviewed to
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Idaho Power Company
identify areas where additional training or corrective
action is needed.
What changes have been made recently to the
IVR?
Idaho Power s IVR is designed to route calls
to the CSR who is best trained to serve that specific
customer while subjecting the customer to as few menu
prompts as possible.For example , a customer who selects
the Irrigation Option within the IVR is routed directly to
a CSR with the specific training and skill level needed to
meet the needs of irrigation customers.
Prior to February of this year , customers selecting
the Residential option were not immediately given the
option to speak with a representative.In response to
feedback from customers about the lack of this option, the
Company revamped its residential queue within the IVR.The
revamped IVR was launched in February 2008 and lets
customers who select the Residential Option immediately
choose to speak with a CSR.In March of this year , E
Source, a research company that focuses on issues relevant
to energy service providers, benchmarked Idaho Power s IVR
against the 2007 survey results of 103 other utilities'
Idaho Power s performance index was 797 points outIVRS.
of a possible 1 000 points.Based on our performance index
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Idaho Power Company
of 797, Idaho Power s IVR ranks 10ili out of the 103 utility
IVRs included in the survey.Based on E Source' s research,
Idaho Power's new IVR is considered to be in the top
quartile of those assessed.
Have the improvements wi thin the Cus tomer
Service Center resulted in improvements to the quality of
service provided to customers?
Over the past four years , the numberYes.
of calls received by the Customer Service Center as well as
the number of calls handled by CSRs has remained stable
even though the number of customers over this same time
period has increased by almost 13 percent.In addition
the number of customer contacts logged as "complaints" by
the CSRs declined by almost 40 percent from 2006 to 2007
and is on track to maintain the 2007 level as of the end of
the first quarter of 2008-Over this same time period , the
Customer Service Center has consistently achieved an
overall CSR accuracy rate greater than 99 percent.The
stable trend in the number of calls received, the decrease
in the number of "complaints" logged , and the consistently
high CSR accuracy rate, I believe, are the result of our
CSR training and monitoring program, our quality
ini tiati ves, and our customers' growing acceptance of
self-help" through the IVR and the Company s Web site.
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Idaho Power Company
Exhibit No.3 and Exhibit No.4 detail Idaho Power'
call statistics for the period 2004 through 2007.
How has Idaho Power improved its outage
management and communication systems?
In 2001, the Customer Service specialist
posi tion was created to facilitate focused communication
with customers during outages and to allow dispatch
personnel to more fully focus on communications with field
personnel.The CSSs, although part of the Customer Service
Center , are physically located with dispatch personnel
wi thin the Company s Distribution Operations Center ("DOC"
to more effectively provide service to customers during
outages.In 2007 , the Customer Service Center and the
Distribution Operations Center were relocated into the same
facili ty to further enhance the quality of customer
service.The close proximity of the Company s CSC and DOC
personnel has improved communications during outages
between Idaho Power personnel and between Idaho Power and
its customers.Among the 76 national utilities whose
residential customers were surveyed by J. D. Power and
Associates in 2007, Idaho Power was ranked second in the
nation with regard to outage communication.Exhibit No.
titled "ToP Utilities Providing Comprehensive Information
During Outages," shows the ratings for the top-rated
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utilities in this category.
What billing and payment options does Idaho
Power offer its customers?
Customers have numerous ways in which they
can pay their bills.Check or money order payments may be
mailed in, placed in a drop box , or made at a pay station.
Customers may also participate in automatic bank debiting
(PreferredPay) and electronic billing and payment (E-bill
Services) .Customers can also use a third-party vendor and
pay their bills using a credit card or a check by phone.
Customers' satisfaction with the number of billing options
provided has consistently been increasing as detailed on
Exhibit No.6, which details results from the Burke, Inc.,
customer satisfaction survey described by Ms. Drake in her
direct testimony.
Has Idaho Power made any changes over the
past several years that have reduced uncollectible amounts?
In October 2004 the CompanyYes.
implemented a tiered deposit structure for irrigation
Under this structure, customers who have ancustomers.
outs tanding past due balance of 000 more as
December 31 are required to pay a depos it roughly equal
four months lrrigation usage prior to havlng service
re conne c ted the follo.wing season.Prior to implementing
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Idaho Power Company
the tiered deposit structure, all deposits required from
irrigation customers were equal to approximately one and a
half months of irrigation usage.Also, over the past
several years, the Company's Agricultural Representatives
have made a concerted effort to work with customers who
have challenges paying their bills to help them understand
the deposit requirements and to encourage them to make
timely payments.Both the tiered deposit structure and the
improved communication between the Company s Agricultural
Representatives and its irrigation customers have resulted
in a 73 percent reduction in past due irrigation balances
and a 93 percent reduction in the irrigation write off
amount at the end of 2007 when compared to the end of 2003.
Exhibit No.7 details the amount of irrigation year-end
past due balances and write offs over the past five years.
Has Idaho Power taken any other steps over
the past several years to improve customer service?
Yes.Idaho Power has taken steps to improve
its metering quality, its distribution and transmission
facility siting process, and its system reliability.
Al though I am not responsible for the efforts in these
three areas, they nonetheless impact the quality of the
Company s customer service.
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Idaho Power Company
performing?
very well.
How well is Idaho Power s metering system
Idaho Power s metering system is performing
The Company s meter reading accuracy rate has
consistently been 99.8 percent since 2003.In addition,
the Company processes 99.4 percent of all requests for
service connection on the same day as the request with 99.
percent of all service connection requests processed within
three business days.Idaho Power processes 99.8 percent of
all requests for service disconnection within four business
days and 99.8 percent of all requests for a meter re-read
wi thin three business days.Addi tionally, Idaho Power ' s
system-estimated meter reads , corrected meter reads, and
meter reread
No.
requests are minimal as indicated, by Exhibit
What steps has Idaho Power taken to improve
its metering quality?
In 1999, Idaho Power began developing a
meter quality system based upon the International Standards
Organization (ISO 9001-2000) model.This quality system
focuses on monitoring of metering operations, identifying
the root cause of all discrepancies, implementing an action
plan to resolve issues, and seeking opportunities for
continuous improvement.An example of how successful this
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Idaho Power Company
quality program is in identifying and addressing metering
problems occurred in late 2006 when the Company began a
targeted inspection program of all current transformer
CT") meters,This inspection program revealed
approximately 15 incidences where an incorrect multiplier
associated with the CT meter was resulting in incorrect
billings.As a result of the discovery of this error,
process changes were made, employees were trained on the
new process , a new maintenance program for CT meters was
implemented , new reports were created, and the Company
Customer Information System ("CIS") was modified to prevent
billing from occurring if a meter multiplier error existed.
Although this example highlights an issue that had a large
impact on a small number of customers, it illustrates the
improvements in processes and training that ultimate result
in improved customer service.
What steps has Idaho Power taken to improve
its distribution and transmission facility siting process?
For many years, it was Idaho Power' s
practice to develop long-range plans for its transmission
and distribution facilities and then share these plans with
jurisdictional authorities and customers in order to foster
an understanding of the facilities needed to meet
electricity needs, to purchase substation sites , and to
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Idaho Power Company
acquire transmission rights in advance of the need and
before physical development in a given area overtook our
ability to economically provide the necessary
infrastructure.Beginning in 2005 , Idaho Power began
forming Customer Advisory Committees ("CAC") in order to
cooperatively develop long-range plans for transmission and
distribution facilities with input and guidance from the
public.The TreasureSo far three CACs have been created.
Valley Electrical Plan CAC was formed in mid 2005 the Wood
River Electrical Plan CAC in early 2007, and the Magic
Valley Electrical Plan CAC in late 2007.Each CAC is
comprised of jurisdictional members such as mayors, city
council members, county commissioners, economic development
staff , Idaho Transportation Department and County Highway
District staff, and city and county planning staff
environmental organization staff, customers, developers,
staff from the Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Forest
Service, and Idaho Department of Fish & Game, and chamber
of commerce representatives.This broad group of
interested parties works with Idaho Power over the course
of several months to develop the long-range build-out plan
for facilities in the affected region.Idaho Power is
working to have the results of the final plans placed into
the jurisdictional comprehensive plans (in map form) within
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Idaho Power Company
the regions in which they are developed so they become a
part of each jurisdiction's long-range growth strategy.
What has Idaho Power done to improve system
reliabili ty?
In 2007, Idaho Power created a management
level position as part of its concentrated effort to
improve the reliability of its electrical distribution
system used to serve customer load.The Manager of
Distribution Reliability and Maintenance is charged with
developing a long-term organizational structure and
strategy to support the Company's reliability obj ecti ves.
Since the inception of the Distribution Reliability and
Maintenance Department, new processes have been established
to identify and prioritize infrastructure needs and funding
requirements.In addition, a long-term reliability
improvement strategy, which was launched in early 2008 , has
been developed.This strategy focuses on three primary
First, emphasis is placed on outage data accuracyareas.
in order to minimize the number of outages associated with
unknown causes.By focusing on the cause of outages, the
effectiveness of corrective infrastructure proj ects is
enhanced.Second, focus is placed on identifying system
defects through the ongoing patrolling of the Company
facilities.Through this identification , a plan is
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Idaho Power Company
implemented to prioritize infrastructure maintenance work
and capital improvements to address the defects.And
third, emphasis is placed on reviewing the system
protection schemes established for various distribution
circui ts in o~der to minimize the number of customers who
might be affected by an outage.In addition to focusing on
the three primary areas identified as part of the Company
reliabili ty strategy, Idaho Power has purchased and is
utilizing new design tools to assist in the development of
more reliable infrastructure designs.
Has Idaho Power focused more attention on
system reliability in ways other than through the creation
of the Distribution Reliability and Maintenance Department?
Yes.In 2006 the Company established the
electrical system's performance for Schedule 7 and Schedule
9 customers as a component of Idaho Power s Employee
Incentive Program.By establishing specific reliability
targets for this group of customers, the Company has
provided a financial incentive for all employees, managers,
and officers to focus on improvements in system
reliabili ty
Has Idaho Power s system reliability
improved since the Distribution Reliability and Maintenance
Department was established and reliability targets were
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incorporated into the Employee Incentive Plan?
Exhibit No.9 details the SystemYes.
Average Interruption Frequency Index ("SAIFI") for all
Idaho Power cus tamers.As can be seen from Exhibit No.
the annualized average number of outages per customer
declined during 2007 compared to the number of outages
during 2006.In addition, with the exception of the first
several weeks of 2008 during which heavy snow storms
occurred throughout much of the Company ' s service
terri tory, the annualized average number of outages
experienced by customers has continued to decline during
2008 compared to the number of outages during 2006.
Likewise, the number of customers with more than six
outages per year continues to be less during both 2007 and
2008 than was experienced during 2006, as can be seen from
Exhibit No. 10.
Is Idaho Power committed to providing
superior service to its customers?
Idaho Power is committed to providingYes.
superJ.or service to our customers not only through our high
quality Customer Service Center but in all facets our
business demonstrated by the various initiatives
undertaken over the past several years both within the CSC
and throughout the Company s planning and operations
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organizations.
this case?
Does this conclude your direct testimony in
Yes, it does.
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Idaho Power Company