20170518Report.pdf

Avista Corp.
l4l I East Mission P.O.Box3727
Spokane, Washington 99220-0500
Telephone [phone]
Toll Free 800-727-9170
April27,2017
State of Idaho
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
4T2W.WashingtonSt.
Boise, lD 83702-5983
i i;-=
ri,rl
--.1
(;)
N1
*_t
Attention: Ms. Diane Hanian, Secretary
Re: Case Nos. AVU-E-16-01 and AVU-G-16-01 - Avista Utilities Ql 2017 Fee-Free
Payment Program Report
Dear Ms. Hanian:
On April 1,2016 the Commission issued OrderNo.33494 in Case Nos. AVU-E-I6-01
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 Idaho
Commission every three months that coincide with the quarters of the calendar year.
l lPage
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:
. 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:
Table No. 1
Pavments January February March
Total Payments 107,837 99,575 I l3,l9l
Fiserv Payments 12.784 49,393
Fee-Free Fiserv 3,607 11,044
Kubra Fee-Free Equivalent*7,505 4,837
Total Fee-Free 7,505 8,444 | 1,044
Fee-Free Payments as 7o of Total 7.0Y.8.5%9.8%
*Kubra Fee-Free Equivalent - these payments represent the Kubra payments received from February l " -
186 that would have come through the fee-free payment 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 trends in customers' payment behavior.
2ll'agc
Table No.2
Chart No. 1 below displays the payment trends from Table No. 2
Chart No. I
2017 lD Residential Payment Trends
40,000
35,000
-30,000
25,000
20,000
1s,000
10,000
5,000
la nuarY
--{*-Total APS Payments **--Tolal Card Payrnents
q*Miriled & Lobby Payrnents*+-Pay Slation Paynlents
February
, CSR Payments
--+-Web Based Payments
cu
E
&
o
March
---lVR Payments
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
Payment Method January February March
APS bv ACH 13,861 14,892 18,562
APS bv Debit or Credit Card 10 198
TotalAPS Payments 13,861 14,902 18,760
Total Card Payments 7,049 7,839 10,094
CSR Payments r.796 2,203 3,050
IVR Payments 2,671 2,930 3,489
Mailed & Lobby Payments 3s.286 30,723 3s,783
Pay Station Payments 5,835 5,461 6,029
Web Based Payments 25,390 23.226 24,094
3ll'}agc
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 tr'ee 7o of Total
20t5 1.287.8s7 71,537 s.6%
2016 1.29t.s98 83.179 6.4%
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-Free Payments by Month Compared to Historical Averages
9.8%
8.5/o
7,00/o
5
Jan-17 Mar-17
The Company has not yet deferred any costs associated with the fee-free payment
program as it is still working through the invoice process with Fiserv.
\2.O%
LO.Ao/o
LA%
6.4%
4.O%
2,4%
o.o%
Feb-l^7
*2017 "*2015 Avg *261a Ort
4lPagc
Please direct any questions regarding this report to Shawn Bonfield at 509-495-2782 or
[e-mail] or myself at 509-495-4975 or [e-mail]
Sincerely,
.4cbdd *rsato
Sr. Manager Regulatory Policy
Avista Utilities
5lPage