20080403Kopczynski Direct.pdf

!' fr'D,\, "-¡ 'U .l:..
DAVID J. MEYER
VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL COUNSEL f
GOVERNENTAL AFFAIRS
AVISTA CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 3727
1411 EAST MISSION AVENUE
SPOKAE, WASHINGTON 99220-3727TELEPHONE: [phone]FACSIMILE: [phone]
20nB APR -3 Pi~ J: 04
REGULATORY &
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION
OF AVISTA CORPORATION FOR THE
AUTHORITY TO INCREASE ITS RATES
AN CHAGES FOR ELECTRIC AN
NATURA GAS SERVICE TO ELECTRIC
AN NATURA GAS CUSTOMERS IN THE
STATE OF IDAHO
CASE NO. AVU-E-08-01
CASE NO. AVU-G-08-01
DIRECT TESTIMONY
OF
DON F. KOPCZYNSKI
FOR AVISTA CORPORATION
(ELECTRIC AN NATURAL GAS)
1
2
I.INTRODUCTION
Q.Please state your name, employer and business
3 address.
4 A.My name is Don F. Kopczynski and I am employed as
5 the Vice President of Transmission and Distribution
6 Operations for Avista Utili ties, at 1411 East Mission
7 Avenue, Spokane, Washington.
8 Q.Would you briefly describe your educational
9 background and professional experience?
10 A.Yes.Prior to joining the Company in 1979, i
11 earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from the
12 University of Idaho.I have also earned a Master's Degree
13 in Business Management from Washington State University and
14 a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga
15
16
University.Over the past 29 years I have spent
approximately 16 years in Energy Delivery,managing
17 Engineering, various aspects of Operations, and Customer
Service.In addition, I spent three years managing the18
19
20
Energy Resources Department,including Power Supply,
Generation and Production, and Natural Gas Supply.More
21 recently, I worked in the areas of Corporate business
22 analysis and development, and served in a variety of
23 leadership roles in subsidiary operations for Avista Corp.
24 I was appointed General Manager of Energy Delivery in 2003
25 and Vice President in 2004.I serve on several boards,
Kopczynski, Di 1
Avista Corporation
1 including the Eastern Washington University Electrical
2 Engineering and Computer Science Advisory Board, Washington
3 State Electrical Board, and the Washington State University
4 Engineering Advisory Board.
5
6
Q.What is the scope of your testimony?
A.I will provide an overview of the Company's
7 natural gas and electric energy delivery facilities and
8 operations. I will also explain some of our recent efforts
9 to increase efficiency and improve customer service, such
10 as the newly formatted website and outsourcing of the bill
11 print and mail service, as well as sumarize Avista' s
12 customer service programs in Idaho.A table of the
13 contents for my testimony is as follows:
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
I. Introduction
II. Overview of Avista' s Energy
Delivery Operations
III. System Improvements & Efficiencies
IV. Cus tomer Support Programs
Page
Page 1
Page 3
Page 6
Page 7
14 Description
Q.Are you sponsoring any exhibits in this
23 proceeding?
24 A.Yes.I am sponsoring Exhibit No.9.This
25 exhibit details the system improvements and efficiencies
26 the Company has undertaken.This exhibi t was prepared
27 under my direction.
Kopczynski, Di 2
Avista Corporation
1
2
II. OVERVIEW OF AVISTA'S ENRGY DELIVERY SERVICE
Q.Please provide an overview of the customers
3 served by Avista Utilities in Idaho.
4 A.As of December 31, 2007, the Company served
5 120,266 electric customers and 71,773 natural gas customers
6 in the five northern count i es 0 f Idaho.Avista's largest
7 electric customer in Idaho is the Potlatch Corporation's
8 Lewiston facility, with an annual usage of approximately
9 898 million kWh. The Company anticipates residential and
10 commercial electric load growth to average 2.3 percent
11 annually for the next ten years, primarily due to expected
12 increases in both population and the numer of businesses
13 in its service territory.While the numer of electric
14 customers is expected to increase, the average annual use
15 per customer is not expected to change significantly. In
16 Idaho, the numer of natural gas customers is proj ected to
17 increase at an average annual rate of 3.0 percent, with
18 demand also growing at 3.0 percent per year.
19 Q.Please describe the Company's electric and
20 natural gas delivery facilities.
21 A.Avista Utilities operates a vertically-integrated
22 electric system.In addition to the hydroelectric and
23 thermal generating resources described by Company witness
24 Mr. Vermillion, the Company has approximately 4,052 miles
25 of lines in the following classes in Idaho: 286 miles of
Kopczynski, Di 3
Avista Corporation
1 230 kV transmission, 604 miles of 115 kV transmission, and
2 3,162 miles of sub-transmission and distribution line at a
3 variety of voltages.Avista also has 928 miles of
4 distribution underground cable;the predominant
5 distribution voltage is 13.2 kV. Avista owns and maintains
6 1876 miles of natural gas pipelines (excluding services) in
7 the state of Idaho of which 560 miles are steel and 1316
8 miles are polyethylene.All of these pipelines are
9 distribution, no transmission, operating at various maximum
10 allowable operating pressures (MAOPs) from 60 psig to 720
11 psig.Avista has 69,337 natural gas service lines in
12 Idaho.
13 Q.Have there been any transmission system changes
14 in Avista's service territory?
15 A.Yes. As Company witness Mr. Kinney discusses in
16 more detail, the Company has nearly completed its 5-year
17 (2003-2007), $136.4 million transmission upgrade project
18 that significantly improved the infrastructure of the 230
19 kV transmission system.This multi-year transmission
20 upgrade added over 100 circuit miles of new 230 kV
21 transmission line to Avista' s system, and increased the
22 capaci ty of an additional 50 miles of transmission line.
23 Related projects at six 230 kV substations were necessary
24 to meet capacity requirements, upgrade protective relaying
25 sys tems , and to meet regional and na tional rel iabi 1 i ty
Kopczynski, Di 4
Avista Corporation
1 standards.With the completion of these projects the
2 transmission proj ect focus is shifting to improving the 115
3 kV transmission system to meet load growth and eliminate
4 thermal loading issues.
5 Q.Please describe the Company's operations centers
6 that support electric and gas customers in Idaho.
7 A.The Company has construction offices in
8 Grangeville, Orofino, Lewiston-Clarkston, Moscow-Pullman,
9 Kellogg, St. Maries, Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint and Bonner's
10 Ferry, and customer contact center operations in Lewiston
11 and Coeur d' Alene. Avista' s four customer contact centers
12 in Coeur d' Alene, Lewiston, Spokane, and Medford, Oregon
13 are networked, allowing the full pool of regular and part-
14 time employees to respond to customer calls in all
15 jurisdictions.
16 Q.What construction and maintenance programs does
17 the Company have in place to maintain gas and electric
18 facilities?
19 A.Avista Utilities utilizes Company seasonal and
20 regular crews for gas and electric construction, including
21 new and reconstructed lines, damage repair, and connecting
22 new customers.The Company employs contract crews and
23 temporary and part-time employees to meet customer needs
24 during the peak construction season. The Company also has
25 several maintenance programs to maintain the reliability of
Kopczynski, Di 5
Avista Corporation
1 our electric and gas infrastructure. On the electric side,
this includes underground cable replacement,asset2
3 management (including wood pole inspection and
4 replacement), vegetation management, electric transmission
5 line inspection and reconstruction. Regarding natural gas
6 operations,ongoing maintenance focuses on valve and
7 regulator stations, atmospheric corrosion protection, and
8 leak surveys.
9
10
11
III. SYSTEM IMPROVENTS AN EFFICIENCIES
Q.Has the Company looked at undertaking additional
12 measures to either reduce costs or increase customer
13 service levels?
14 A.Yes. Avista utilities has undertaken a numer of
15 improvements and efficiency initiatives throughout our
16 service area that are focused on either increasing customer
17 service and satisfaction, or reducing costs to the company.
18 We believe these measures have served to mitigate the
19 impact on customers of the proposed rate increase.
20 Q.Please exlain the system improvement measures
21 that Avista has implemented in Idaho.
22 A.Some of the recent improvements that the Company
23 has implemented are as follows:
24
25
26
. updated our Integrated Voice Response system
to help our customers interact with our
company.
Kopczynski, Di 6
Avista Corporation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
. Implemented a new Outage Management system to
help minimize the restoration time of outages
on our system.
. Implemented Mobile Dispatch to reduce the time
it takes for the Company to process customers'
natural gas orders, and provide service.
. Deployed our redesigned website
AvistaUtilities. com.
. Every Little Bit Energy Efficiency Campaign
. Outsourced our bill print and mailingoperations.. Evaluating transmission and distribution
system efficiencies.
. Partnered with the City of Spokane in a pilot
program to coordinate Design Locates.
. Helped formulate the Spokane Regional
Infrastructure Efficiency Plan.
. Rolled out on-line classes for Craft Training.
. Implemented a new Asset Management Program.
These programs are detailed further in Exhibit No, 9,
22 and are examples of the extensive efforts of Avista to
23 identify and implement efficiency measures while continuing
24 to provide quality service to customers.
25
26
27
iv. CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROGRAS
Q.Please explain the customer support programs
28 that Avista provides for its customers in Idaho.
29 A.Avista Utili ties offers a numer of programs for
30 its Idaho customers, such as energy efficiency programs,
31 Proj ect Share for emergency assistance to customers, a
32 Customer Assistance Referral and Evaluation Service (CARES)
33 program, senior energy outreach, level pay plans, and
34 paYment arrangements. Some of these programs will serve to
Kopczynski, Di 7
Avista Corporation
1 mitigate the impact on customers of the proposed rate
2 increase.
3 Q.Please describe Avista Utilities' dem-side
4 management (DSM), or energy efficiency, programs.
5 A.The Company's innovative Energy Efficiency
6 Tariff Rider is celebrating its thirteenth anniversary.
7 The tariff rider, the country's first distribution charge
8 to fund DSM and now replicated in many other states, has
9 provided consistent funding for the delivery of energy
10 efficiency services. Company witness Mr. Folsom will
11 provide more detail about Avista Utilities'energy
12 efficiency services.
13 Q.Please describe the recent resul ts of the
14 Company's Project Share efforts?
15 A.Project Share is a community-funded program
16 Avista sponsors to provide one-time emergency support to
17 families in the Company's region. Avista customers and
18 shareholders help support the fund with a voluntary
19 contribution that is distributed through local community
20 action agencies to customers in need.Grants are
21 available to those in need without regard to their heating
22 source. Avista Utili ties' customers donated $326,111 on a
23 system basis in 2007, of which $88,910 was directed to
24 Idaho Community Action Agencies. In addition, the Company
25 contributed $50,000 to Idaho customers in 2007.
Kopczynski, Di 8
Avista Corporation
1
2
Q.Does the Company offer a bill-averaging program?
A.Yes. Comfort Level Billing helps smooth out the
3 seasonal highs and lows of customers' energy usage and
4 provides the customer the option to pay the same bill
5 amount each month of the year.This allows customers to
6 more easily budget for energy bills and avoid higher
winter bills.This program has been well-received by7
8 participating customers.Over 16,750, or 12%, of Idaho
9 electric and natural gas customers are on Comfort Level
10 Billing.
11 In addition,the Company's Contact Center
12 Representatives work with customers to set up payment
13 arrangements to pay energy bills.In 2007, 27,222 Idaho
14 customers were provided with over 90,083 such payment
15 arrangements.
16
17
Q.Please sumrize Avista's CARS program.
A.In Idaho, Avista is currently working with over
18 1,251 special needs customers in the CARES program.
19 Specially-trained representatives provide referrals to
20 area agencies and churches for customers with special
21 needs for help with housing,utilities,medical
22 assistance, etc.
23 Q.Have these programs helped mitigate the impact
24 on customers in need?
Kopczynski, Di 9
Avista Corporation
1 A.Yes. Through these programs, the Company works
2 to build lasting ways to ease the burden of energy costs
3 for customers most in need.
4 In the 2006/2007 heating season,10,125 Idaho
5 customers received $2,814,506 in various forms of energy
6 assistance (Federal LIHEAP program, Project Share, and
7 local community funds) .These programs and the
8 partnerships we have formed have been invaluable to
9 customers who often have nowhere else to go for help.
10 Q.Does this conclude your pre-filed direct
11 testimony?
12 A.Yes.
Kopczynski, Di 10
Avista Corporation
".,',r:1\!CD.".. j ~ L;DAVID J. MEYER
VICE PRESIDENT, GENERA COUNSEL,
GOVERNENTAL AFFAIRS
AVISTA CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 3727
1411 EAST MISSION AVENUE
SPOKAE, WASHINGTON 99220-3727
TELEPHONE: [phone]
FACSIMILE: [phone]
REGULl~Bi¥;1)&\,"" f'¡ Ii -3
lli I: OS
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION ) CASE NO. AVU-E-08-01
OF AVISTA CORPORATION FOR THE ) CASE NO. AVU-G-08-01
AUTHORITY TO INCREASE ITS RATES )
AND CHARGES FOR ELECTRIC AN )
NATURA GAS SERVICE TO ELECTRIC ) EXHIBIT NO. 9
AN NATURA GAS CUSTOMERS IN THE )STATE OF IDAHO ) DON F. KOPCZYNSKI
)
FOR AVISTA CORPORATION
(ELECTRIC AN NATURA GAS)
1
2
3
SYSTEMS IMPROVENTS & EFFICIENCIES
Avista Utilities is continually evaluating potential
system improvements and efficiency measures.The Company
4 has undertaken a number of improvements and efficiency
5 initiatives throughout our utility that are focused on
6 either increasing customer service and satisfaction, or
7 reducing costs to the company.Detailed below are
8 examples of these programs:
9 A. Integrated Voice Response (IVR)
10 B. Outage Management
11 C. Mobile Dispatch
12 D. Web Redesign
13 E. Every Little Bit Energy Efficiency Campaign
14 F. Bill Print and Mail Outsourcing15 G. Transmission and Distribution System Efficiencies
16 H. Design Locates17 I. Regional Infrastructure Efficiency Plan18 J. Craft Training
19 K. Asset Management
20
21 A.Interacti ve voice Response System (IVR)
22 Avista' s Interactive voice Response System (IVR) has been
23 in service since Novemer 1997.Currently, nearly 40% of
24 customer calls are handled by the IVR for self-service,
25 which includes outage reporting and messaging, accepting
26 payments, making payment arrangements, hearing account
27 information and other information such as pay station, and
28 heating assistance locations. In 2007, the IVR was updated
29 to allow customers to use the system to conduct other
30 business, such as electronic payments (over 115,346 in
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 1 of 13
1 2007) and obtaining account balances (over 118,534 in 2007)
2 and payment arrangements (over 75,416 in 2007) .
3 Four years ago, Nortel (manufacturer of Avista' s IVR)
4 announced the end of the operating system. Therefore, the
5 technology is now obsolete and new functionality will be
6 difficult or impossible to add to the current platform.
7 The hardware was over 10 years old as of Novemer 2007.
8 Avista needs to refresh this technology as a way to
9 guarantee the continued ability for customers to self-
10 serve.New functionality includes the ability for
11 customers to sign up for Comfort Level Billing (CLB) and
12 Automated Payment Service (APS) along with Restoration Call
13 Backs to customers.
14 The Company is collaborating with Intervoice, a
15 leading IVR manufacturer on a new platform that will offer
16 customers additional functionality as the current IVR, and
17 will use Voice Recognition as the main interface between
18 cus tomers and machine.Touch-tone entry will still be
19 available, however.The new IVR system is currently
20 scheduled to be available for customers by the third
21 quarter of 2008.The budget for the IVR proj ect is
22 approximately $1.7 million (system), and is included in our
23 rate request.This system will continue to allow us to
24 have fewer customer service representatives on staff, which
25 results in lower labor costs. These lower labor costs are
26 reflected in the 2007 test period.
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 2 of 13
1 B.OUtage Management - Avista' s Outage Management
2 System, completed in December 2004, is an application
3 utilizing the Company's Geographic Information System (GIS
4 mapping system) .It allows Avista's distribution
5 facilities to be linked to individual customer service
6 points in a computer based model. The connectivity within
7 the model allows for predictive analysis tools to determine
8 outage areas,affected system devices and customers
9 experiencing an outage, This system substantially reduced
10 the time necessary to restore service to customers during
11 the December 2006 wind storm, resulting in better customer
12 satisfaction,less overtime for crews,and better
13 coordination of restoration efforts across the Company's
14 service territory.
15 Customers can report outages quickly by calling
16 Avista' s contact center or speaking to the Company's IVR.
17 All customer calls are plotted in the GIS mapping system
18 and tied to outage incidents, dramatically reducing the
19 chance they would be missed or forgotten.Prediction of
20 the probable outage device allows all commonly affected
21 customers to be associated with an incident tied to the
22 outage device,dramatically reducing the numer of
23 incidents that must be managed by the dispatcher. Quick
24 identification of affected customers reduces outage time.
25 Customer outages are quickly identified geographically
26 through the GIS mapping system. Crews and other resources
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 3 of 13
1 can be assigned and managed at the incident level and can
2 be dispatched directly to the problem, reducing the outage
3 time. Accurate outage data is collected for all incidents
4 providing feedback to improve reliability.Outage
5 statistics such as . CAIDI and SAIFI are gathered in real
6 time to indicate the severity of major events and assist in
7 resource planning. The system is also capable of handling
8 customer callbacks to validate restoration has been
9 successful.
10 Avista' s GIS system forms the data foundation of the
11 outage management application.The GIS establishes a
12 network model of the electric distribution system which
13 mimics the near real-time status of the actual distribution
14 network. All switching actions are represented as soon as
15 the field switching is complete to maintain currency and
16 accuracy.
17 A design application called the Construction Design
18 Tool (CDT) was installed in 2007. This application allows
19 semi-automated designs and eliminates some field travel by
20 designers. This system relies on unit assemblies and their
21 associated costs to create design scenarios for selection
22 by the designer optimizing the use of standard materials;
23 increasing customer satisfaction,reducing design and
24 permitting time and increasing system effectiveness and
25 utilization saving time in each design.
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 4 of 13
1 The GIS model provides the data necessary to analyze
2 system characteristics for system planning studies which
3 dictate how system modifications will proceed.Planning
4 models are now able to represent current system
5 configurations whereas in the past it would be easy for the
6 models to become badly out-of-date, due to the large manual
7 effort required to keep them current. System planners and
8 engineers now spend the maj ori ty of their time planning
9 instead of managing paper maps and re-creating computer
10 models.
11 The GIS is tightly integrated with Avista' s Customer
12 and Work Management systems to providing a clear
13 understanding of where customers receive our products, how
14 much product the customer uses and what type of facility
15 exists or is required to deliver our product.Day-today
16 maintenance and operating activities rely heavily on the
17 GIS for current system configuration and utilization.
18 The Mobile Dispatch implementation relies on the GIS
19 system to provide accurate representations of existing
facili ty and land features.Facility and customer20
21
22
information is provided for routing and facility
identification.Documentation is provided by automated
23 updating of the GIS model from the field which eliminates
24 back office labor for map updates and insures currency of
25 the data.
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 5 of 13
1 Finally, the very sophisticated GIS connectivity model
2 gives Avista a distinct advantage by providing the
3 necessary foundation for the deployment of Smart Grid
4 technologies in the near or long term future.
5 c.Mobile Dispatch In June 2006,the
6 implementation of wireless laptop computers with mobile
7 maps (Mobile Dispatch) was deployed to all Avista natural
8 gas servicemen.Mobile Dispatch automatically dispatches
9 work orders to Avista servicemen throughout the day through
10 wireless technology to laptop computers mounted in Avista
11 service trucks.Prior to Mobile Dispatch, orders were
12 created in Avista' s work management system and printed at
13 the local construction offices.Employees in each office
14 would sort, assign and dispatch (via phone, pager, fax or
15 in person) orders each morning. The field employees would
16 work with the orders and call in the completed work
17 periodically throughout the day or simply turn-in the stack
18 of completed orders at the end of the day.The completed
19 orders were manually completed by employees who entered the
20 information regarding the order back into the work
21 management system.
22 The paper processes made it nearly impossible to track
23 the status of individual orders and fieldworkers throughout
24 each day.It was also very difficult for the Dispatchers
25 to keep up with the volume of paper being sent out each
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 6 of 13
1 morning, changes to the orders that occurred during the
2 day, and completed orders returned at the end of the shift.
3 Mobile Dispatch has automated the order creation,
4 modification and completion process.With the new
5 technology, orders are created in the work management
6 system and are automatically dispatched to the correct
7 field worker based on the order's Latitude/Longitude
8 position and the person assigned to work orders in that
9 area. Once a field employee has been identified, the order
10 is sent through wireless technology to the laptop computer
11 mounted in Avista's service truck.The order is then
12 reviewed by the employee for specific information needed to
13 complete the work. The order status is transmitted back to
14 the dispatch center, as the employee indicates they are en
15 route, on-site, and/or have completed the work. The
16 completed order is transmitted back to the work management
17 system where it is closed automatically.
18 Dispatchers have complete information for each order
19 and a field employee's status.They have the ability to
20 manage and redistribute work by simply dragging and
21 dropping orders from one field employee to another.The
22 orders instantly move from the originally-assigned laptop
23 to the newly-assigned laptop.
24 The Company has proformed into this case $140,000 in
25 annual savings associated with the reduction in employees
26 as further described by Company witness Ms. Andrews.
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 7 of 13
1 D.Web Site Redesign - Web Redesign was a project
2 launched in July 2005 to rebuild the Avista utilities
3 website.This project included visual design and user
4 interface, customer transaction automation and technology
5 platform reliability /scalabili ty / flexibili ty.The
6 Company's primary goal is to achieve a 10% reduction in the
7 call center's total call volume while increasing customer
8 satisfaction.Avista transformed the website to provide
9 meaningful and timely information with powerful self-
10 service tools that will help customers make informed energy
11 management choices.Official rollout of the redesigned
12 website was in January 2008 at a total cost of $2.9
13 million.These costs have been included in the Company's
14 2008 capital expenditures pro formed in this case.
15 E.Every Little Bit Energy Efficiency campaign
16 The Company understands that rising energy costs have put
17 added pressure on customers. With this in mind, Avista is
18 committed to increasing customer and community awareness
19 about wise energy use.Promoting the wise and efficient
20 use of energy resources has taken on added importance
21 locally, nationally and globally, and it is our goal to
22 build customer awareness around energy usage, energy
23 efficiency practices, and to direct them to the resources
24 and tools we have available to assist them. To ensure we
25 did this appropriately,Avista conducted a baseline
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 8 of 13
1 research study to determine how we could best affect
2 cus tomer usage habi ts .
3 Armed with this data, Avista created the ~Every Little
4 Bit" campaign. We were able to show customers that ~every
5 little bit" does add up and can make a difference in their
6 energy usage. We focused this initial campaign on low-cost
7 and no-cost measures, with information on rebates and
8 energy efficiency. The initial campaign,launched in
9 September 2007 is the beginning of a long-term effort aimed
10 at making customers more efficient in their use of energy.
11 This proj ect is funded under the Company's DSM tariff
12 rider.
13 F. Bill Print and Mail Service OUt source - Avista' s
14 bill printing and mail services were outsourced to Regulus,
15 the second largest first class mailer in the United States.
16 The project objectives were to move bill printing,
17 inserting and mailing offsi te and to leverage core
18 competencies of the provider.It will also serve to
19 promote disaster recovery, ensure daily print volume
20 flexibility and scalability, reduce costs for bill print,
21 inserting and mailing, and serve to maximize technology.
22 Avista's primary objective was to achieve disaster
23 recovery. Avista needed a back-up system to ensure day-to-
24 day business operations. Furthermore, customers expect to
25 receive their billing statements in a timely manner in
26 order to avoid delayed payments, unintended collections and
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 9 of 13
1 shut-offs. Through a third-party provider, Avista has
2 available five alternative printing sites and at each site
3 there are redundant systems for equipment breakdowns.
4 Avista has invested in dedicated data lines to both the
5 primary print site in Napa, CAi and to the alternative site
6 in Charlotte, SC. In the event that those lines were not
7 available, Avista would access lines vendors other sites.
8 Avista has obtained USPS postage expertise to maximize
9 its postage costs. Under the Regulus contract, Avista
10 expects to pay approximately 12 cents per piece. That is
11 down from 17 cents under the former provider. The 12 cents
12 per piece does not include the capital costs to implement
13 the project.Furthermore, the Vendor has USPS postal
14 personnel onsite to ensure that the mailings meet USPS
15 requirements and can be delivered in the fastest means
16 possible.
17 As part of the project, Avista redesigned its bills,
18 letters and notices making them easier-to-read and
19 understand, thereby reducing call center call volumes. The
20 bill also provides flexible space for providing improved
21 communications to customers.
22 G.Transmission and Distribution System Efficiencies
23 - Avista is developing innovative programs to locate and
24 quantify energy losses across our transmission and
25 distribution system. The efficiencies programs will review
26 the energy savings associated with a wide range of system
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 10 of 13
1 improvements from feeder balancing to conservation voltage
2 reduction. The energy savings associated with each program
3 will be assembled into an energy portfolio identifying the
4 relative cost per kWh of savings. This portfolio will be
5 used to prioritize proj ects in order to focus improvements
6 on programs with the greatest benefit.
7 Another consideration for the efficiencies programs is
8 the development of an implementation strategy which bundles
9 efficiencies projects with operational programs. The
10 efficiencies program to replace older less efficient
11 transformers with new more efficient transformers may be
12 bundled with the redesign or replacement of secondary
13 districts since a strong correlation exists between old
14 transformers feeding large secondary districts.By
15 combining these two programs, Avista can accomplish the
16 following two program goals: 1) Coordinate crew time ~ touch
17 the pole just once" and 2) Optimize energy savings.
18 Finally, as efficiencies programs are implemented,
19 Avista is interested in accruing the energy savings across
20 its system. Consequently, Avista is establishing work
21 processes and information systems to track these savings
22 when programs are implemented. For example, to account for
23 the energy savings from the replacement of an old vintage
24 transformer with a new transformer, the tracking system
25 will capture the replacement date, the relative transformer
26 losses, and the load profile. By tracking the reduction in
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 11 of 13
1 losses across our transmission and distribution system,
2 Avista can verify the life cycle cost benefit of the system
3 improvemen t .
4 H.Design Locates Avista is working through
5 collaborative efforts with the City of Spokane in a pilot
6 program to coordinate design locates as part of the City's
7 construction design process. The goal of this pilot is to
8 have utility locators provide locates for the Company's
9 existing facilities before the city projects are designed
10 in order to avoid potentially costly facility relocation.
11 Cost savings will be measured throughout the construction
12 year.The measurements will be used to evaluate whether
13 the process should be extended in conj unction with other
14 jurisdictions throughout the Avista service territory.
15 I.Regional Infrastructure Efficiency Plan
16 Spokane's Joint Utilities Coordination Council was formed
17 to bring together regional municipali ties,utility
18 companies, telecommunication providers, sewer, water and
19 railroad to coordinate construction activities on an annual
20 basis.Avista, in partnership with the City of Spokane,
21 hosts this meeting every February, just prior to the
22 beginning of the construction project season.
23 Municipalities and utilities share their project plans and
24 schedules so as to increase the coordination and mitigate
25 the risk of unknown proj ects .The Joint utilities
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 12 of 13
1 Coordination Council has resulted in greater coordination
2 and efficiencies across the entire Spokane region.
3 J.Craft Training Craft training department has
4 developed over 50 different on-line training classes for
5 our natural gas, electric and generation apprentice and
6 qualification programs.In 2007,the natural gas
7 department alone was able to cut a full day from the annual
8 natural gas refresher training for 250 employees. The new
9 learning network also gives us a delivery and record
10 keeping system that allows the Company to plan, schedule
11 and document our training programs and requirements.
12 K.Asset Management Program Avista has assigned
13 two full-time engineers to the formal Asset Management
14 program.These individuals are responsible for gathering
15 information, prioritizing work and executing efforts to
16 best meet the Asset Management mission.The engineers
17 utilize a statistical Reliability Centered Maintenance
18 (RCM) software package to analyze data.This software
19 allows detailed analysis of the impacts of increased or
20 decreased reliability based on system configuration and
21 component reliability.
Exhibi t No. 9
Case No. AVU-E-08-01 & AVU-G-08-01
D. Kopczynski, Avista
p. 13 of 13