20210129Magalsky Exhibit 6 Schedule 1.pdf

DAVID J. MEYER
VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF COUNSEL FOR
REGULATORY & GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
AVISTA CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 3727
1411 EAST MISSION AVENUE
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON 99220-3727
TELEPHONE: [phone]
FACSIMILE: [phone]
[e-mail]

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION ) CASE NO. AVU-E-21-01
OF AVISTA CORPORATION FOR THE ) CASE NO. AVU-G-21-01
AUTHORITY TO INCREASE ITS RATES )
AND CHARGES FOR ELECTRIC AND )
NATURAL GAS SERVICE TO ELECTRIC ) EXHIBIT NO. 6
AND NATURAL GAS CUSTOMERS IN THE ) OF
STATE OF IDAHO ) KELLY E. MAGALSKY

FOR AVISTA CORPORATION

(ELECTRIC AND NATURAL GAS)

Exhibit No. 6, Schedule 1
Capital Investment Business Case Justification Narratives Index
Business Case Name
Page
Number
Customer at the Center
Customer Facing Technology Program 2
Customer Transactional Systems 14
Strategic Initiatives - Customer Experience Platform Business Foundation 25
Customer Experience Platform Program 30
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 1 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 1 of 12
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Customer Facing Technology business case focuses on delivering value to all customers (ID, WA,
and OR) through our various digital channels including but not limited to MyAvista.com, text/SMS, voice,
and our mobile app. Customer expectations have changed in that companies are expected to deliver
fast, easy, personalized, and intuitive self-service. Customers want a consistent experience from their
first interaction to the resolution of their issue and they are comparing Avista to all the brands with which
they interact. In addition to existing customers desiring to work with Avista in digital ways, new customers
reach adulthood every year and the expectations for self-service and digital engagement will continue to
increase as these new generations become our customers. Funding the Customer Facing Technology
business case ensures that Avista can continue focusing on delivering value to our customers and
making it easier for them to interact with us.
Features in this business case include new ways for our customers to interact, including: simplifying the
payment process, making it easier for customers to view their bill and their usage information, improving
navigation so customers can easily find what they are looking for, adding new functionality to make
mobile viewing better, enhancing the outage map to include additional outage information, new
functionality for business customers to help them manage their energy use, and tools for customers who
have their own electric generation systems. In addition to these features for customers, this business
case also includes the foundational and technical work to run the digital channels. The underlying
technology must be kept up to date in order to stay up and running for our customers. Upgrades and
service packs are required to keep the channels performing and secure. More functionality is included in
this business case and is referenced in Section 2.2.
Avista’s digital channels are experiencing increasing usage year over year. If the digital channels
become stagnant and are not enhanced to accommodate adjusted consumer behavior, customer
satisfaction will decline, resulting in increased calls to the call center and increases in costs to serve our
entire customer base.
The requested spend amount over 5 years is $36,500,000.
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
CFTP $7,500,000 $7,500,000 $7,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,000,000
VERSION HISTORY
Version Author Description Date Notes
1.0 Stephanie Myers Initially approved 4/20/2020
2.0 Stephanie Myers Updated Executive Summary 6/26/2020
2.1 Stephanie Myers Additional content added 7/20/2020
2.2 Stephanie Myers Finalization of document 7/28/2020
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 2 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 2 of 12
GENERAL INFORMATION
1.BUSINESS PROBLEM
1.1 What is the current or potential problem that is being addressed?
Avista’s digital channels are the primary ways our customers choose to interact with
our Company. These channels provide ways our customers can self-serve and
complete their transaction or request. Self-service is a common trend across all
industries and continues to be a choice most people are choosing to make when it
comes to online shopping or any service experience. In fact, 40% of all consumers
now prefer self-service over human contact (Kulbytė, 2020). In addition, Avista’s
digital channels are experiencing increasing usage year over year, see figure 1
below.
Figure 1: Customer contacts volume by channel
Requested Spend Amount $36,500,000
Requested Spend Time Period 5 Years
Requesting Organization/Department Customer Solutions | Enterprise Technology
Business Case Owner | Sponsor Stephanie Myers | Kelly Magalsky | Hossein Nikdel
Sponsor Organization/Department Customer Solutions
Phase Execution
Category Program
Driver Customer Service Quality & Reliability
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 3 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 3 of 12
Customer expectations continue to rise. Gone are the days when a drive-up drop
box for payments is acceptable. Additionally, customers continue to expect more
value for their energy and have increasing interest in a variety of offerings that can
simplify their interactions with Avista and give them more information about, and
control over, their energy use. This, combined with the expansive growth of
technology, creates an expectation that information is easy to find, payments are
easy to make, communications are proactive, timely, personalized and available
through a variety of channels, and tools that provide these opportunities are part of
the overall energy package. Figure 2 below in Section 1.5 demonstrates how
customers use of digital channels has increased over the past 10 years, and likewise
use of live contact center representative phone calls has correspondingly
decreased.
The primary digital channel, MyAvista.com, underwent a significant technical uplift
and user experience redesign in 2017. This platform needs ongoing upgrades and
enhancements to ensure the technology does not go out of support with the software
vendor.
We continue to find ways to automate manual processes and ensure a human is not
in the middle of the ideal self-service interaction that our customers expect. In order
to meet this demand and ensure our channels are up to date, this requires consistent
enhancement and investment in the underlying technology and in upcoming trends.
1.2 Discuss the major drivers of the business case (Customer Requested, Customer
Service Quality & Reliability, Mandatory & Compliance, Performance & Capacity, Asset
Condition, or Failed Plant & Operations) and the benefits to the customer
Improvement of the digital customer experience is at the core of the Customer
Facing Technology Program. These new tools will enable our customers to self-
serve through a digital channel that they choose.
One of the major drivers of the business case is keeping up with customer demand
in an ever-changing digital space. The investments in this business case will provide
tools to customers that they are familiar using with other companies. This will keep
customer satisfaction high and provide a desired customer experience.
Customers continue to desire a mobile friendly digital experience. This business
case will continue to use the ‘mobile first’ mentality when designing self-service tools
for our customers. See figure 3 in section 2.4 below.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 4 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 4 of 12

1.3 Identify why this work is needed now and what risks there are if not
approved or is deferred
This work is needed now and for the next five years because technology is
constantly changing, and new tools and options will continue to materialize that we
can then offer to our customers. Customers demand a similar experience they see
on other industries digital channels. They are constantly comparing their utility
experience to experiences they have with other businesses and “utilities”, such as
Amazon, Apple, Safelite, Comcast, etc. Avista must keep up with customer demand
and provide digital experiences for utility services in the most cost effective way
possible.

If this business case is not approved, we risk not meeting customer expectations
and also risk increased calls into the call center which is a more costly way to
complete the transaction. In figure 2 below, in 2019, we had 5,842,517 self-service
interactions. If that stays the same for 2021, and we invest $7,500,000, this equates
to $1.28 per interaction. Each call into the call center costs roughly $9.36. If the
digital channels did not exist and as a result each self-service interaction needed to
be a phone call, this would equate to roughly $54m ($9.36 x 5,842,517). If work is
deferred, we delay functionality that could increase efficiencies for our customers
and reduce manual work for our employees.
1.4 Identify any measures that can be used to determine whether the
investment would successfully deliver on the objectives and address the
need listed above.
Customer satisfaction will be used to determine if this investment is successfully
delivering on its objectives. We receive a quarterly scorecard from Verint that
measures customer satisfaction for the website. At this time, we are not able to
measure satisfaction for the mobile app or text channels.

1.5 Supplemental Information
1.5.1 Please reference and summarize any studies that support the problem

Figure 2: Overall Customer Contacts
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 5 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 5 of 12

Option Capital Cost Start Complete
Recommended Solution $36,500,000 01 2021 12 2025
Alternative #1 – Slower pace of change $22,500,000 01 2021 12 2025
Alternative #2 – Do nothing $0
2.1 Describe what metrics, data, analysis or information was considered when
preparing this capital request.
As mentioned above in Section 1.5, the digital channels are our most used channels.
These channels continue to provide value to our customers by providing a convenient
way for them to interact with us. Each interaction our customers have through a digital
channel is one less call to the call center. Since 2009, Customer service representatives
have answered 34% less phone calls. However, average call handle time is up 18%; and
the grade of service (% of calls answered within 60 seconds) is up 1.5%.

In summary, our customers are making less calls to Avista, as the more routine-type
requests can be managed through our digital channels. As a result, the calls we do
receive are more complex, taking longer to work through and requiring more care. This
means that the digital channels are critical to keeping our costs down. For every
interaction a customer makes through a digital channel (web, app, text), that equates to
an avoided phone call. In Figure 3 below, we estimate that in 2019 alone our digital
channels have avoided over $23 million in costs.

We expect this trend to continue, in summary, with a $7.5M per year investment we
expect to avoid $20 - $25M in costs per year. A 5-year investment of $37m, results in
roughly $115m in avoided costs over the same 5-year period. In 2019 we avoided
approximately $24M in costs. This business cases will be spending an additional $35M
to simply maintain the same annual level of avoided costs that we experienced in 2019.
However, as the digital channels grow (see chart in section 1.1), the amount of avoided
costs also grow.

With our flexible work force in the call centers, we can flex the staffing to meet call volume.
If calls increase, then we hire more staff to maintain the level of service. On the contrary,
if call decrease, then we staff at fewer hours for the week and sustain this level of staffing
if the lower call volume is maintained.

Est. Avoided Costs - Self-Service 2009 2017 2018 2019
Web $3,767,197 $10,750,552 $12,884,176 $14,876,599
Mobile App/Text -- $933,595 $928,145 $2,255,684
IVR $2,726,771 $4,258,062 $5,307,925 $6,591,312
Total Annual $6,493,968 $15,942,209 $19,120,246 $23,723,595
Figure 3: Estimated Avoided Costs
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 6 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 6 of 12
2.2 Discuss how the requested capital cost amount will be spent in the current
year (or future years if a multi-year or ongoing initiative). Include any
known or estimated reductions to O&M as a result of this investment.

There are no direct O&M reductions due to this capital business case, this business case
supports the $115m in avoided costs over the 5-year period, as discussed in section 2.1.

Recommended Solution:
The recommended solution includes costs to cover various enhancements and new
features in our digital channels over the next five years. These features could
include (but are not limited to) the following:
Self-Service Functionality
• Automated online payment arrangement and options - enhancements for the
streamlining of online automated payment arrangements based on
customers’ specific circumstances. This addition will offset the number of
calls into the Call Center.
• Features to streamline processes for landlords - landlords have a high
amount of move in/move out transactions they perform on behalf of their
tenants. These tools could include the ability to upload the necessary
paperwork or fill out an online form rather than faxing in the paperwork. This
work will decrease the number of calls coming into the Call Center and
manual work the call center representatives currently are required to perform.
• Enhanced reporting for energy assistance to allow partner agencies to
provide a better experience for Avista’s customers seeking bill assistance
• Outage map reporting enhancements and upgrades to allow for additional
information availability such as planned and future outages, crews on site
layer and outage history information.
• AMI enabled personalized energy usage insights using customer facing tools
on the web and mobile app.
• New payment flow for multi-account customers to streamline process with
less clicks and more information easily available and accessible from the
MyAccount page.
• Ability to report streetlight outages via the web and mobile app. This may
reduce calls to the Call Center and reduce manual processes.
• Energy management tools through various voice channels (Alexa, google
home, etc.).
• A new bill design and possible transition to a new vendor due to an increased
amount of downtime for our customers through Avista’s digital channels.
• Enhancements to payments methods (Apple pay, Google pay, Alexa, Google
Home, etc.)
The requested spend amount over 5 years is $36,500,000.
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
CFTP $7,500,000 $7,500,000 $7,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,000,000

DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 7 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 7 of 12
• Specific functionality for business customers to help them manage their
energy use. This work may reduce the number of calls to our Call Center and
account executives.
• Tools for customers who have their own generation (solar, wind, etc.)
• Ability for customers to schedule appointments and view how various work is
progressing through the pipeline (construction tracker, tree trimming
status/work tracker, etc.) – This work may reduce the number of calls to our
Call Center and/or Customer Project Coordinators.
Technology Updates
• Web content management system upgrade, maintenance and ongoing
enhancements. Some of this work will allow content editors to make updates
to our website which will remove workload from our development team. The
web content management system is the underlying technology and is
required in order to keep a website up and functioning.
• Web maintenance and technical debt to ensure our website is up to date,
secure and optimized - page load times, accurate data presentment, updated
customer information, banners and alerts, security enhancements, server
upgrades, license and certificate renewals, etc.
• Call Center application upgrades (personnel scheduling and work
management system for customer service representatives).
• Voice channel refresh (automated voice system)
Products & Services, Energy Efficiency
• Renewable natural gas enrollments to satisfy legislative requirement to offer
renewable natural gas service.
• Net metering applications and online presentment and payments for non-
retail energy payments.
• Transportation Electrification program which includes online customer facing
presentment and administrative tools such as Docusign, etc.
• Rebates features and enhancement – new conversion category, instant
rebate check out in the “Marketplace” (DSM rebates vendor).
• On bill financing tools that would allow a customer to finance a large expense
like a new energy efficient refrigerator, furnace, or A/C unit.

2.3 Outline any business functions and processes that may be impacted (and
how) by the business case for it to be successfully implemented.
This business case will provide self-service options for our customers through
our digital channels. This could reduce the amount of manual work our
employees are performing on behalf of our customers. Less follow-up could be
required between CSR’s and other employees because customers would be
self-serving and gathering this information on their own.

DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 8 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 8 of 12
2.4 Discuss the alternatives that were considered and any tangible risks and
mitigation strategies for each alternative.

Alternative #1 – Slower pace of change:
In this alternative, Avista would implement customer solution capabilities and
improvements at a slower pace than outlined in the information above. This
alternative will delay the benefits to our customers which may generate
dissatisfaction as well as prevent us from maximizing the benefits of previously
funded core systems, such as the myavista.com website, mobile app, and smart
meter and load disaggregation capabilities.

In 2019, the mobile app was enhanced to include the ability to view and pay your
bill, and billing/payment automated alerts. We made this investment due to the
increase in mobile usage (see figure 4 below).

Figure 4: Mobile Device Usage

Avista’s web and mobile app channel is experiencing increasing usage year over
year. If these digital channels become stagnant and are not enhanced to
accommodate adjusted consumer expectations and behavior, customer satisfaction
will decline, resulting in increased calls to the call center and increases in costs to
serve our entire customer base. This approach also limits the amount of
enhancements and upgrades to our existing technologies; if these are not upgraded,
we put all systems at risk of not functioning which would impact the experience and
level of service our customers would receive. Therefore, this alternative is not
feasible.
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
% of Visits by Device Category -Desktop/Tablet vs. Mobile
(2016-2019)
Desktop+Tablet Mobile
2019 EOY
Average
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
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Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 9 of 12

Alternative #2 – Do nothing
All digital channels would remain in their existing state with no new features or
functionalities added. Doing this would put overall customer satisfaction at risk. We
enhance digital channels based on customer feedback and usability analysis, and
industry agnostic digital best practices; if we are not meeting customer expectations
then we risk increasing the amount of overall customer contacts through other live,
non-self-service channels. This could ultimately increase costs and decrease
customer satisfaction.

With zero investment, no required compliance or regulatory changes to the digital
channels would be made. For example, if there are newly identified security risks
that require internal web work and coordination with our external vendors to mitigate,
these items could not be completed. With zero investment we also risk the
technology being obsolete and not functioning. This technology requires periodic
upgrades and security updates; without these, the technology is at risk of not
functioning; and thus, driving call into our call center.

With zero investment, there is a risk that our digital channels begin to degrade and
are not meeting customer expectations (or worst case scenario, we have to shut
them down). If we do not maintain these channels and they become unsupported
or not secure, then calls would increase, and call center staffing would have to
increase as well.

2.5 Include a timeline of when this work will be started and completed.
Describe when the investments become used and useful to the customer.
spend, and transfers to plant by year.
The work within this business case will be conducted through a program that will
contain multiple projects. The work will transfer to plant most often on an integrated
release cycle; new features will go live for customers 3-4 times per year (most likely:
February, May, July and October).

2.6 Discuss how the proposed investment aligns with strategic vision, goals,
objectives and mission statement of the organization.
Avista’s strategic vision is to put the customer at the center of everything we do.
The meaning behind this business case is to provide tools for our customers to
interact with our company in a digital way and a way that the customer chooses.
This is 100% in line with our strategic vision.

A specific focus area is for our customers, “We must hold our customers’ interests
at the forefront of all our decisions, operating our business by showing that we are
transparent, genuinely care, and are easy to do business with.” We are offering a
choice to our customers; therefore, we are easy to do business with. If a customer
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 10 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 10 of 12
wants to not talk to anyone and pay their bill online or get information on the mobile
app regarding their outage, they can do that without having to call. Some people
want to call, and we provide a call center for them to do that.

Our mission is “We improve our customers’ lives through innovating energy
solutions.” Some of the planned work in the coming years will provide detailed
usage information to the customer (load disaggregation). By providing these tools
to our customers we are opening their eyes into how they are using energy, this will
allow them to more effectively manage their energy and see where they may be able
to save money or repair underperforming appliances. This feature is innovative and
will provide immense value to our customers, both in terms of how they interact with
us, but also through reductions in the cost to serve.
2.7 Include why the requested amount above is considered a prudent
investment, providing or attaching any supporting documentation. In
addition, please explain how the investment prudency will be reviewed
and re-evaluated throughout the project
If customers continue to use these digital channels to self-serve, it is considered a
prudent investment as it will continue to defer more expensive interactions. Monthly
and annual digital channel analytics reports will be reviewed on an annual basis to
ensure the channels are still being used and that customer satisfaction is reasonable
and in line with other utility digital channels.
2.8 Supplemental Information

2.8.1 Identify customers and stakeholders that interface with the business case
Customers will interface with the technology in this business case both
through their own self-service interactions on MyAvista.com, the mobile
app, and text channels and with Avista personnel who will be using the
technology to provide service to customers.

2.8.2 Identify any related Business Cases
The work in the business case is not related to work in other business
cases.

2.8.3 References
Kulbytė, T. (2020, May 19). THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER SELF-
SERVICE IN THE DIGITAL AGE. Retrieved from Super Office:
https://www.superoffice.com/blog/customer-self-service/

3.1 Steering Committee or Advisory Group Information
This business case will be governed by the Customer Facing Technology (CFTP) &
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
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Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 11 of 12
Customer Experience Platform (CXP) Governance group. This group prioritizes and
governs the projects under the Customer Facing Technology Program throughout
the entire project lifecycle. They then surface these to the IS/IT PMO for execution.
3.2 Provide and discuss the governance processes and people that will
provide oversight
The CFTP Governance Group meets on a monthly basis.
Members include:
Kevin Christie – VP External Affairs and CCO
Jim Kensok – VP CIO & CSO
Latisha Hill – VP Community & Economic Vitality
Mike Broemeling – Director of Customer and Shared Services
Nikdel Hossein – Director Applications and System Planning
Jim Corder – Director IT and Security
Dana Anderson – Director Corporate Communications
David Howell – Director Operations, West Operations and Asset Management
Josh DiLuciano – Director Electric Engineering
Anna Scarlett – Director Energy Efficiency
Kelly Magalsky – Director Products, Services, and Customer Technology
Kelly Conley – Sr Manager Digital Communications and Corporate Communications
Stephanie Myers – Manager Customer Solutions and Products & Services
Graham Smith – Manager Applications Delivery and Application Support
Facilitators include:
Kim Henscheid – Program Manager Customer Experience Platform
Ethan Jelinek – IT Sr Program Manager

Decision making and general prioritization decisions for the business case and
programs will be documented and monitored through monthly meeting notes.
Project specific decisions will be documented within the PMO’s current process
through project change orders.

DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 12 of 39
Customer Facing Technology
Business Case Justification Narrative - CFTP Page 12 of 12
The undersigned acknowledge they have reviewed the Customer Facing
Technology Program Business Case and agree with the approach it presents.
Significant changes to this will be coordinated with and approved by the undersigned
or their designated representatives.

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Stephanie Myers
Title: Customer Solutions Manager
Role: Business Case Owner

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Kelly Magalsky
Title: Director of Customer Technology and
Products and Services

Role: Business Case Sponsor

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Hossein Nikdel
Title: Director of Applications and Systems
Planning

Role: Steering/Advisory Committee Review

Template Version: 05/28/2020
DocuSign Envelope ID: 64E9A0F3-08DB-450F-BADE-548670FDC89E
Jul-30-2020 | 1:56 PM PDT
Jul-30-2020 | 2:40 PM PDT
Jul-30-2020 | 2:42 PM PDT
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 13 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 1 of 11
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Customer transactional systems are used to support the day to day operational needs of
all our customers, internal users, third party partners and our regulators. These systems
include functionality such as: collection and storage of meter reads and meter data,
customer billing, head end metering systems, energy and agency assistance program
reporting, rate design and rate modeling tools, and customer energy efficiency records
and opportunities. To keep these systems up to date and operational, we must perform
regular upgrades and invest money in enhancements that will benefit our customers,
internal users, third party partners and regulators. Technology and user expectations
continue to evolve, and we need to be agile and use our technologies to meet those
expectations.

We strive to meet the needs of our customers by offering new options and features and
to also ensure that the users of these systems can perform their jobs in the most efficient
and timely manner. It is important to be able to meet the request of our third-party
partners and to ensure we are reporting back accurately to our regulators. These systems
are foundational in our interactions with all of our partners. We must keep these systems
updated to support new requests such as: new billing and rate options, product and
service offerings, scheduling appointments and tracking jobs, payment arrangements and
payment options, and meter data information.

Not investing in this technology would greatly reduce the ability to keep our major systems
current and fully operational. We would put significant risk on the ability to meet customer,
third party partner and regulatory expectations.

The requested amount over 5 years is $16,750,000.
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
CTS $3,550,000 $3,250,000 $3,350,000 $3,200,000 $3,400,000

VERSION HISTORY
Version Author Description Date Notes
1.0 Mary Silkworth Initially approved 7/15/2019
2.0 Stephanie Myers Update executive summary 6/26/2020
2.1 Stephanie Myers Additional detail 7/21/2020
2.2 Stephanie Myers Measurements added 7/30/2020

DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
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Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 2 of 11
GENERAL INFORMATION

1. BUSINESS PROBLEM

1.1 What is the current or potential problem that is being addressed?
At Avista, we have a variety of "Customer Transactional Systems" that are used to
support the day to day operational needs of our customers, internal users, third party
partners and our regulators.

These systems include functionality such as:
• Collection and storage of Meter Reads and Meter Data
• Customer Billing
• Head End Metering Systems
• Energy and Agency Assistance program reporting
• Rate Design and Rate Modeling tools
• Customer Energy Efficiency records and opportunities

To keep these systems up to date and operational, we must perform regular
upgrades and invest money in enhancements that will benefit our customers,
internal users, third party partners and regulators. Technology and user
expectations continue to grow, and we need to be agile and use our technologies to
meet those expectations.

We strive to meet the needs of our customers by offering new options and features
and to also ensure that the users of these systems can perform their jobs in the
most efficient and timely manner. It is important to be able to meet the requests of
our third-party partners and to ensure we are reporting back accurately to our
regulators. These systems are foundational in our interactions with all our partners.

Requested Spend Amount $16,750,000
Requested Spend Time Period 5 years
Requesting Organization/Department Customer Solutions
Business Case Owner | Sponsor Stephanie Myers | Kelly Magalsky | Hossein Nikdel
Sponsor Organization/Department Customer Solutions
Phase Execution
Category Program
Driver Customer Service Quality & Reliability
DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 15 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 3 of 11
We must keep these systems updated to support new requests such as: new billing
and rate options, product and services offerings, scheduling appointments and
tracking jobs, payment arrangements and payment options and meter data
information.

1.2 Discuss the major drivers of the business case (Customer Requested, Customer
Service Quality & Reliability, Mandatory & Compliance, Performance & Capacity, Asset
Condition, or Failed Plant & Operations) and the benefits to the customer
This business case is driven by the need to consistently bill our customers, keep
track of customer accounts and provide a way for CSR’s and other employees to
keep customer accounts current. This business case also includes systems needed
to track energy efficiency and data required to report to our regulators. Work
requests from our customers are triggered to field personnel from our Customer
Transactional Systems. Without these systems we put our quality and reliability of
serving our customers at risk.

We must keep these systems updated to support new requests such as: new billing
and rate options, product and service offerings, scheduling appointments and
tracking jobs, payment arrangements and payment options, and meter data
information.

1.3 Identify why this work is needed now and what risks there are if not
approved or is deferred
Not investing in this technology would greatly reduce the ability to keep our major
systems current and fully operational. These systems require regular updates from
the software vendors and constant security updates to ensure our customer data is
protected. If this business case is not approved, we would put significant risk on the
ability to meet customer, third party partner and regulatory expectations.

1.4 Identify any measures that can be used to determine whether the
investment would successfully deliver on the objectives and address the
need listed above.
Success measures are as follows:
• % of bills being estimated
• % of errors customers receive when opening their bill electronically
• % of AMI meters that are accurately being read
• # of energy efficiency jobs tracked in the new DSM system

DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 16 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 4 of 11
1.5 Supplemental Information
1.5.1 Please reference and summarize any studies that support the problem
The 2019 Cogent Syndicated Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement
Residential study by Escalent, a human behavior and analytics firm, found that
to continue to succeed with customers, utilities need to continue to offer
enhances products and services and ensure customers are engaged. According
to their findings, the Millennials and GenZers compose 20% of the market and
have scored utilities low on customer engagement.
Based on their study, Avista is currently in the top 40 utilities as 2019 Customer
Champions (Keller, 2019) designating our utility as having higher offering usage
and providing “value-added” products and services, making Avista “best
positioned for future customer success and industry Innovation”.

For Avista to continue this positive trend in the right direction it is imperative that
we continue to invest in our customer transactional systems.

Option Capital Cost Start Complete
Recommended Solution $16,750,000 01 2021 12 2025
Fund at a Lower Level $12,000,000 01 2021 12 2025
Do nothing $0
2.1 Describe what metrics, data, analysis or information was considered when
preparing this capital request.
The "Recommended Solution" would enable us to keep pace with customer
demands and take advantage of current changes and enhancements to our
technology systems. The enhanced features would allow us to continue to
improve our customer experience and offer updated capabilities. Customers are
DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 17 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 5 of 11
currently asking for more flexibility and choices in their interactions with our
Company. These features could include (but not limited to) the following:
• CCB/MDM system upgrades, maintenance and ongoing enhancements.
To keep these systems up to date and operational, we must perform
regular upgrades and invest money in enhancements that will benefit our
customers, internal users, third party partners and regulators.
• Comfort Level Billing updates and enhancements. Introduction of a multi-
year plan calculations, customer notifications for plan changes and
customer facing balance display and trending details via the website.
These enhancements will offset the number of calls into the Call Center
and have potential to improve our customer satisfaction score.
• Rate tools to enable rate modeling utilizing AMI data. This project will
replace the existing tool that is at end of life.
• Marketplace instant rebates checkout and customer eligibility validation.
This work will streamline a rebate process for customers and has potential
to increase our customer satisfaction score.
• PCI Compliance (Card EZ) refresh to continue to enable CSRs to take
credit card payments from the customer using the Card EZ website. This
work will ensure that we follow payment card industry data security
standards.
• CSR Assessment software enhancements for monitoring CSR productivity
and managing quality assurance. This work will continue to ensure we are
monitoring our Call Center resources for efficiently and improving our
customer experience through our quality assurance process.
• Low Income Rate Assistance Program replacement of the existing
outdated Energy Assistance Work Bench tool used by assistance agencies
to see customers’ bills and payment history. This update will provide
enhanced reporting for energy assistance and provide a better experience
for Avista’s customers when they are asking for help paying their bill.
• Automated online payment arrangement and options to enhancements for
the streamlining of online automated payment arrangements based on
customers’ specific circumstances. This addition will offset the number of
calls into the Call Center.
• Renewable natural gas enrollments to satisfy regulatory requirement to
offer renewable natural gas. This will look similar to My Clean Energy and
provide the customer with additional renewable energy options and has the
potential to increase our customer satisfaction score.
• Transportation Electrification program which includes online customer
facing presentment and admin tools such as Excel, Docusign, etc. This
addition has the potential to increase our customer satisfaction score.
• Features to streamline processes for landlords, landlords have a high
amount of move in/move out transactions they perform on behalf of their
tenants. These tools could include the ability to upload the necessary
paperwork or fill out an online form rather than faxing in the paperwork.
This work will decrease the number of calls coming into the Call Center.
DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 18 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 6 of 11
• Demand Side Management System that tracks all large energy efficiency
projects being conducted on behalf of our customers.
• Voice channel refresh
• On bill financing tools that would allow a customer to finance a large
expense like a new energy efficient refrigerator, furnace, or A/C unit. This
functionality is required by our regulators.
• A new bill design and possible transition to a new vendor to improve
performance and customer experience.
• Specific functionality for business customers to help them manage their
energy use. This work may reduce the number of calls to our Call Center
and account executives.
• Tools for customers who have their own generation (solar, wind, etc.)
• Ability for customers to schedule appointments and view how various work
is progressing through the pipeline (construction tracker, tree trimming
status/work tracker, etc.) – This work may reduce the number of calls to
our Call Center and/or Customer Project Coordinators.
2.2 Discuss how the requested capital cost amount will be spent in the current
year (or future years if a multi-year or ongoing initiative). (i.e. what are the
expected functions, processes or deliverables that will result from the capital spend?). Include
any known or estimated reductions to O&M as a result of this investment.

5 YEAR FUNDING REQUEST DETAIL:

There are no direct O&M reductions as a result of this business case.

2.3 Outline any business functions and processes that may be impacted (and
how) by the business case for it to be successfully implemented.

DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 19 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 7 of 11
CC&B/MDM Features: Many of the features and enhancements slated over the
next 5 years will have many impacts to other parts of the business.
• CLB work will improve the customer experience and should result in less
calls to the Call Center.
• Marketplace Instant Rebates Check-out will streamline some of the
manual work required by our rebates departments and improve the
customer experience.
• Automated Online Payments will lessen calls to the Call Center by
enabling customers to set up their payment arrangements online through
self-service automation.
• Renewable Natural Gas will fulfill a regulatory requirement and lessen
calls to the Call Center for customers due to a self-service sign-up
experience.
• Transportation Electrification Program directly benefits our revenue
stream as it assists customers in transitioning to electric powered
vehicles.
• Streamlining processes for landlords will lessen the calls to our Call
Center during tax season because landlords will be able to self-serve
online.
• On-bill financing tools will enable customers the opportunity to finance
purchases to become more energy efficient which will contribute to a
better customer experience.
• Redesigning our bill will lessen the calls to the Call Center as it will be
geared towards providing the information customers want based on
usability studies and customer feedback.
• Energy Usage Tools will leverage our newly implemented AMI meter data
and help our customers better understand their energy usage and lessen
calls to the Call Center.
CC&B/MDM Upgrade/Refresh: Direct impacts to Customer Service,
Construction Services, Rates, DSM, Security, and Finance are among the many
departments that utilize these systems along with specific roles such as CSRs,
CPCs, account executives and regional business managers. This work will
continue to keep our two most critical business applications updated to the most
current versions and help to mitigate future support and security risks.
DSM System: This system will impact the employees that keep track of energy
efficiency projects on behalf of our customers. Information in this system is
tracked (for example: kWh and therms saved through a lighting upgrade in a
supermarket) and reported to energy efficiency governing bodies.
LiRap Replacement: The LiRap system (Low Income Rate Assistance
Program) tracks all assistance made to those customers that request it.
Rate Tools: This work will directly impact our Rates Department and replace
the existing “home grown” system they are using which is at end of life.
PCI Compliance (Card EZ): Due to PCI Compliance, call center
representatives (CSRs) are not allowed to take credit card numbers over the
DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 20 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 8 of 11
phone and key them into the credit card system. This project puts an automated
‘robot’ feature in place to protect our customers and our CSRs from fraud.
CSR Assessment Software: This work will impact our Call Center operations
by helping to better track and manage resource efficiency and quality
assurance.
2.4 Discuss the alternatives that were considered and any tangible risks and
mitigation strategies for each alternative.

Funding at a lower Level
The "Funding at a Lower Level" option would delay benefits to our customers,
users of the system and third-party partners. This option could increase
operational costs as we may delay our major technology system upgrades. In
addition, we would delay implementing enhancements that would benefit users
of the systems and create operational efficiencies, features that would benefit
customers and third parties (outside agencies and vendor partners) and delay
the ability to respond or report on regulatory requests.

Do Nothing
The "Do Nothing" option would greatly reduce the chance of keeping our major
technology systems current and fully operational. Also, we would be unable to
meet customer, third party partners and regulatory expectations. With zero
investment, no required compliance or regulatory changes would be made. For
example, if there are newly identified security risks that require internal work and
coordination with our external vendors to mitigate, these items could not be
completed. With zero investment we also risk the technology being obsolete
and not functioning. This technology requires periodic upgrades and security
updates; without these, the technology is at risk of not functioning; and thus,
driving calls into our call center and creating an immense amount of manual
work for our employees.

2.5 Include a timeline of when this work will be started and completed.
Describe when the investments become used and useful to the customer.
spend, and transfers to plant by year.
The work within this business case will be conducted through a program that
will contain multiple projects. The work will transfer to plant most often on an
integrated release cycle; new features will go live for customers 3-4 times per
year.

DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 21 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 9 of 11
2.6 Discuss how the proposed investment aligns with strategic vision, goals,
objectives and mission statement of the organization.
At Avista, we have a variety of "Customer Transactional Systems" that are used
to support the day to day operational needs of our customers, internal users,
third party partners and our regulators.

For Avista to provide “Better energy for life…” it is important to keep these
systems functioning at the optimal technical level in keeping with industry
standards and customer expectations. Continually improving, enhancing,
replacing, and building upon these systems keeps us in step with our value of
being innovative and continuously improving and finding better ways to get
things done. This concept is directly stated in our mission statement, “We
improve our customers’ lives through innovative energy solutions” and is a
demonstration of placing the customer at the center of everything we do.

In addition to focusing on our customers, our employees are foundational to
everything that we do. Improving these systems also includes direct benefit to
our employees and their performance. They are using these tools daily to deliver
value to our customers and the communities we serve.
2.7 Include why the requested amount above is considered a prudent
investment, providing or attaching any supporting documentation. In
addition, please explain how the investment prudency will be reviewed
and re-evaluated throughout the project

Avista needs a way to track customer accounts, bill our customers, and track
energy efficiency projects and savings on behalf of our customers. It is
considered a prudent investment as it will continue to provide an efficient and
safe way to bill our customers and keep our customer information secure.
2.8 Supplemental Information

2.8.1 Identify customers and stakeholders that interface with the business case
Customers will interface with the technology in this business case
indirectly through their own self-service interactions on MyAvista.com, the
mobile app, and text channels. Customers will also interact with Avista
personnel who will be using the technology to provide service to
customers.

2.8.2 Identify any related Business Cases
The work in the business case is related to the work in the Customer
Facing Technology business case. Most of the tools identified in the
Customer Facing Technology business case cannot function without work
occurring within the Customer Transactional Systems business case.
DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 22 of 39
Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 10 of 11

2.8.3 References
Keller, S. (2019, December 17). High Utility Customer Satisfaction Isn’t
Translating to Use of Enhanced Offerings. Retrieved from Business Wire:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191217005149/en/High-
Utility-Customer-Satisfaction-Isn%E2%80%99t-Translating-Enhanced

3.1 Steering Committee or Advisory Group Information
This business case will be governed by the Customer Facing Technology
(CFTP) & Customer Experience Platform (CXP) & Customer Transactional
Systems (CTS) governance group. This group prioritizes and governs the
projects under the Customer Transactional Systems throughout the entire
project lifecycle. They then surface these to the IS/IT PMO for execution.

3.2 Provide and discuss the governance processes and people that will
provide oversight
The CFTP, CXP and CTS Governance Group meets on a monthly basis.
Members include:
Kevin Christie – VP External Affairs and CCO
Jim Kensok – VP CIO & CSO
Latisha Hill – VP Community & Economic Vitality
Mike Broemeling – Director of Customer and Shared Services
Nikdel Hossein – Director Applications and System Planning
Jim Corder – Director IT and Security
Dana Anderson – Director Corporate Communications
David Howell – Director Operations, West Operations and Asset Management
Josh DiLuciano – Director Electric Engineering
Anna Scarlett – Director Energy Efficiency
Kelly Magalsky – Director Products, Services, and Customer Technology
Kelly Conley – Sr Manager Digital Communications and Corporate
Communications
Stephanie Myers – Manager Customer Solutions and Products & Services
Graham Smith – Manager Applications Delivery and Application Support
Facilitators include:
Kim Henscheid – Program Manager Customer Experience Platform
Ethan Jelinek – IT Sr Program Manager

3.3 How will decision-making, prioritization, and change requests be
documented and monitored
Decision making and general prioritization decisions for the business case and
programs will be documented and monitored through monthly meeting notes.
DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
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Customer Transactional Systems
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 11 of 11
Project specific decisions will be documented within the PMO’s current process
through project change orders.

The undersigned acknowledge they have reviewed the Customer Transactional
Systems Program Business Case and agree with the approach it presents.
Significant changes to this will be coordinated with and approved by the undersigned
or their designated representatives.

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Stephanie Myers
Title: Customer Solutions Manager
Role: Business Case Owner

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Kelly Magalsky
Title: Director of Customer Technology and
Products and Services

Role: Business Case Sponsor

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Hossein Nikdel
Title: Director of Applications and Systems
Planning

Role: Steering/Advisory Committee Review

Template Version: 05/28/2020

DocuSign Envelope ID: D5A9DF29-7480-43B1-B82E-9C7226068D6B
Jul-31-2020 | 8:52 AM PDT
Aug-02-2020 | 2:48 PM PDT
Aug-02-2020 | 5:44 PM PDT
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Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 1 of 10
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of the Customer Experience Platform (CXP) Business Case is to implement the technology
necessary to support the emphasis on Customer Experience at Avista. This program will enable the
customer at the center strategy by creating transformative tools for our employees and enabling them to
better support customers. The CX platform will be enhanced over time and will eventually be used by all
employees that work directly with or support our customers (both electric and gas customers in all service
territories). The CXP program will empower all departments to work as one in support of customers. It will
enable us to deliver the personalized experiences customers love and build lasting, trusted relationships.
CXP will create a single interface and provide a consistent and comprehensive view of each customer, their
preferences, past interactions, communications, and history with Avista. This reduces confusion across
departments, allows our employees to handle an entire situation and answer customer questions without
having to transfer a call or tell the customer we will need to get back to them. This also allows our customers
to no longer have to repeat information with various employees of Avista about a single situation because
all interactions will be logged and made available to employees. This platform brings our employees and
our customers together by providing a single lens into each individual customer and their interactions with
us.

The CXP program will continue to create new features in an on-going agile fashion for various departments
across our company and for our customers by improving the overall customer experience. These features
may include (but are not limited to) the following: Quoting & Order Entry, Account Management, Contract
management, Lead Management, Segmentation, Approvals & Workflows, Communication Campaign
management tracking, Trouble Management, Credit & Collections, Start/Stop Service, High Bill Analysis,
Payment Processing, Field service request & tracking, Rebate programs, New construction, and Ability for
CSRs to see location of field personnel. Through the implementation of CXP, some systems will be
replaced as their functionality is integrated into CXP. For example, centralizing communication platforms,
moving functionality from Infor CRM to the CXP, and the customer service virtual flip chart.

Not investing in the customer experience platform would put overall customer satisfaction at risk. Lower
customer satisfaction would result in higher costs in serving dissatisfied customers, increased customer
complaints to Avista and to our commissions, and a lack of trust with our company. We are developing and
enhancing this platform based on our strategy of putting the customer at the center and to improve overall
customer interaction and experience; if we do not improve the customer experience by providing the proper
tools to our employees to serve our customers, then we put meeting current customer expectations at risk.
We currently enjoy high customer satisfaction scores, but if we do nothing, we are at risk of satisfaction
decreasing.

In addition, total cost avoidance as a result of this business case is estimated to be approximately $1M per
year.

The requested spend amount over 5 years is $27,000,000.
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
CXP Program $6,000,000 $6,000,000 $5,000,000 $5,000,000 $5,000,000

VERSION HISTORY
Version Author Description Date Notes
1.0 Stephanie Myers Initially approved 6/15/2020
2.0 Stephanie Myers Updated Executive Summary 6/26/2020
2.1 Stephanie Myers Additional content in narrative 7/21/2020
2.2 Stephanie Myers Additional detail added for cost avoidance 7/28/2020

DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 30 of 39
Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 2 of 10
GENERAL INFORMATION

1. BUSINESS PROBLEM
1.1 What is the current or potential problem that is being addressed?
The purpose of the Customer Experience Platform (CXP) Business Case is to implement the
technology supporting the renewed emphasis on Customer Experience at Avista. This program will
enable the customer at the center strategy by creating transformative tools for our employees. The
CX platform will be enhanced over time and will eventually be used by all employees that work
directly with or support our customers (both electric and gas customers in all service territories).
These employees include but are not limited to customer service representatives, field workers,
account executives, construction workers, various management roles.

Our systems and how our employees transact with those systems are somewhat silo’ed in nature.
A specific department uses systems that are completely separate and specialized to the job that
department is performing. For example, customer service’s primary role is to help the customer and
answer questions to the best of their ability. They can help a customer with their bill, process a
payment, create a payment arrangement, analyze their usage, and create an activity for a field
person to perform. The customer service representative (CSR) does not have knowledge of where
each field personnel is located, or how much availability our field personnel may have to meet with
a customer. In essence, this will provide a more holistic or 360 degree view of the customer.

We do not currently have one single interface that can provide consistent and a single source of truth
about our customers. Having this type of holistic interface reduces confusion across departments,
allows our employees to handle an entire situation and answer customer questions without having
to transfer a call or tell the customer we will need to get back to them. This also allows our customers
to no longer have to repeat information with various employees of Avista about a single situation
because all interactions will be logged and made available to employees. This platform brings our
employees and our customers together by providing a single lens into all customer interactions.

There is the potential to have a rise in customer complaints and an increase in customer
dissatisfaction if we are requiring them to repeat information or wait a long time to have a question
answered or a problem resolved.

From a strategic perspective, we are putting technology in place that will allow our employees to
create the experience that customers are increasingly expecting. Companies that focus on great
customer experience have higher customer satisfaction and loyalty which will be increasingly
important as the utility industry evolves and more customer choice options are available.
Requested Spend Amount $27,000,000
Requested Spend Time Period 5 years
Requesting Organization/Department Customer Solutions | Enterprise Technology
Business Case Owner | Sponsor Stephanie Myers | Kelly Magalsky | Hossein Nikdel
Sponsor Organization/Department Customer Solutions
Phase Execution
Category Program
Driver Customer Service Quality & Reliability
DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 31 of 39
Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 3 of 10

1.2 Discuss the major drivers of the business case (Customer Requested, Customer
Service Quality & Reliability, Mandatory & Compliance, Performance & Capacity, Asset
Condition, or Failed Plant & Operations) and the benefits to the customer
The major driver of this business case is Customer Service Quality & Reliability combined with a
focus on our corporate customer at the center strategy. The CXP program will empower all our
departments to work as one. It will enable us to deliver the personalized experiences customers love
and build lasting, trusted relationships. With the Customer Experience Platform, customers will
experience shorter lead times, less time between follow-up activities because our system will
escalate cases when the customer has been waiting.

Customers will experience streamlined processes and the introduction of electronic signatures. They
will have the ability to chat with us virtually without having to pick up the phone. The customer will
be able to get communication through the channel they choose (email, phone, print, text, etc.). Our
customers will get communication that is specific and personalized and therefore more relevant to
them. If they need help paying their bill, our communication will be targeted and focused on features
that will help that customer, like agency locations or new incentives. We will be able to log every
interaction our employees have with our customers which could avoid our customers from having to
call multiple different people. A single employee could help answer multiple customer questions
because the information will be logged and made available to employees in order to streamline that
customer experience. Our employees will also can bring up this information on a mobile device
allowing our employees to help customers while in the field.
1.3 Identify why this work is needed now and what risks there are if not
approved or is deferred
Avista’s strategy is increasingly focused on putting our customer at the center of everything we do.
Part of this strategy is preparing for a future where customers will have more choice for energy
service and adjacent products and services. We want them to choose us because of the exemplary
experiences they have had with our company. It takes many years to build the capabilities and
associated improved customer satisfaction and if we defer this work, we risk being far behind the
curve and not meeting expectations that our customers have around a desired experience.

This investment will also create internal efficiencies for our employees that interact directly with our
customers and those who are behind the scenes accomplishing tasks and work on behalf of our
customers. The transactions we will be providing in the customer experience platform will be
streamlined and take less time to complete. The CXP will also require less training time for new
employees and for new features.

If this work is not approved, all existing systems and business processes would remain in their
existing state with no new functionality added. This alternative would put overall customer
satisfaction at risk. Lower customer satisfaction would result in higher costs in serving dissatisfied
customers, increased customer complaints to Avista and to our commissions, and a lack of trust of
our company. We currently enjoy high customer satisfaction scores, but if we do nothing, we are at
risk of this going down.

1.4 Identify any measures that can be used to determine whether the
investment would successfully deliver on the objectives and address the
need listed above.
We identified measurements to determine whether this investment would successfully deliver on the
objectives. We worked with Salesforce.com, the software vendor that is the platform behind the
DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
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Business Case Justification Narrative Page 4 of 10
CXP. Salesforce has hundreds of thousands of customers across many different industries. They
track efficiencies through the implementation of their software; and thus the avoided future costs due
to their software. We will be using these data points to determine success:
• Case Deflection:
o the CXP could deflect the number of calls placed into our call centers
o Salesforce’s research: 17% case deflection
o Avista’s conservative estimate: 10% case deflection
• Case Resolution Time:
o the CXP can reduce the amount of time it takes to resolve a case
o Salesforce’s research: 24% improvement in resolution time
o Avista’s conservative estimate: 10% improvement
• Employee Productivity:
o due to streamlined tasks in the system, the CXP could save employees time
throughout their day, freeing them up to take more calls or complete more tasks in
a single day
o Salesforce’s research for call center representatives: 12 hrs saved per week
o Avista’s conservative estimate for call center representatives: 3 hrs saved per week
o Avista’s conservative estimate for other employees: 1 hr saved per week
• Faster Onboarding:
o due to the ease of use in the system, training a user to use the CXP will take less
time and be more straightforward, thus allowing our employees to spend less time
training
o Salesforce’s research: 26% reduction in the time to onboard/train
o Avista’s conservative estimate: 20% reduction in the time to onboard/train
• Overall Customer Satisfaction:
o Customer satisfaction will go up as a result of this investment
1.5 Supplemental Information
1.5.1 Please reference and summarize any studies that support the problem
The detailed report that was created jointly by Salesforce and Avista that outlined avoided costs can
be found on the CXP Project Web Site: https://sp2016.corp.com/sites/sp/CXP/.

Option Capital Cost Start Complete
Recommended Solution $27M 01 2021 12 2025
Alternative #1 – Slower pace of change $22.5M 01 2021 12 2025
Alternative #2 – Do Nothing $0 01 2021 12 2025
2.1 Describe what metrics, data, analysis or information was considered when
preparing this capital request.

Benefits and avoided costs can be referenced in the document mentioned in Section 1.5. A summary
of this cost avoidance can be seen below; a total of $1,007,949 in cost avoidance is estimated on an
annual basis as the result of the work in this business case.

Cost Avoidance Measurement Estimated Cost Avoidance
Case Deflection $610,609
Case Resolution Time $116,133
DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 33 of 39
Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 5 of 10
CSR Productivity (Back Office only) $163,125
Faster Onboarding $118,082
Total Estimated Cost Avoidance $1,007,949

2.2 Discuss how the requested capital cost amount will be spent in the current
year (or future years if a multi-year or ongoing initiative). Include any
known or estimated reductions to O&M as a result of this investment.
The business case will contain multiple projects within each year. Each project will be estimated,
planned, and delivered each year. We plan to have at least two projects per year with multiple
releases to end users. The planned cost per year is described in the executive summary on the first
page of this document.

The avoided cost estimates mentioned in section 1.5 will be achieved through attrition in the call
center and other areas of our business as features are expanded across our employee base.

The CXP program will continue to create new features in an on-going agile fashion for various
departments across our company. These features include (but are not limited to) the following:
• Quoting & Order Entry: Ability to develop quotes, cost estimates and assemble orders related
to an opportunity (construction work, etc.) based on products or services that a customer is
interested in (estimate upfront and ongoing costs for a natural gas conversion based on
expected usage, estimate the cost of connecting a new home to electric and gas)
• Account Management: Ability to add, change, delete various attributes on an account
(contact information, billing preferences, and communication preferences). Account
management is also responsible for allowing all activities and related information to be
displayed on an account to assist communications teams in communicating the correct
information to the correct type of customer groups.
• Contract management: Create, update, negotiate, renew, and execute service contracts with
customers or potential new customers.
• Lead Management: Identification, qualification, tracking, and management of potential new
customers or interest from existing customers in adding a product or service, such as: natural
gas conversion, electrification, energy efficiency programs, etc.
• Segmentation: Ability to divide a customer base into groups of individuals that are similar in
specific ways relevant to communication such as propensity to participate in an energy
efficiency program or convert fuel use, or interest in electric vehicle charger, etc.
• Content management: process of organizing and consolidating pieces of content and tagging
schemes in an efficient way and storing them in a repository.
• Approvals & Workflows: Ability to design, implement and automate business processes.
• Campaign management tracking: Planning, execution, tracking and analysis of a
communication plan (campaign); Campaigns involve programs or initiatives that the utility
needs to communicate to its customers (energy efficiency, e-billing, auto-pay, energy
assistance, etc.).
• Trouble Management: Ability to report, dispatch, resolve, and communicate updates on
outages or other emergencies (e.g. downed wires, gas odor, etc.) related to customer’s
electric or natural gas service.
• Credit & Collections: A set of processes and events to encourage payment of a customer’s
delinquent balance. It involves notifying customers of past due balances, providing
alternatives to paying on time including payment arrangements, severance of their electric
or gas service and subsequent re-activation.
• Start/Stop Service: Ability to open, close or move service for a residential or non-residential.
Includes the ability to setup a new customer or adding additional services to an existing
customer.
DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 34 of 39
Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 6 of 10
• High Bill Analysis: Ability to analyze usage and billed amounts along with other data such as
weather, historical usage patterns, and information provided by the customer to aid in
understanding why a bill may be higher than expected.
• Payment Processing: Ability to take, cancel, or reallocate, or modify a payment for a
customer.
• Field service request & tracking: Ability to initiative and track all field activities happening at
a customer’s service point. The work can be originated in either CC&B or Maximo.
• Rebate programs: Ability to receive, track, and manage rebate applications, pay customers
and/or contractors for purchasing/installing a qualified product or participating in a qualified
program (e.g. energy efficiency programs), and report on program participation and metrics.
• New construction: Ability to add, install, or move an electric or natural gas service. New
construction is specific to providing service to a customer site for which service had not
previously been provided. (e.g. customer wants natural gas at their residence).
• Ability for CSRs to see location of field personnel
• Ability for all employees to see every interaction our customers have with us
• Ability for all written customer communication to be seen by all employees
• Ability to route customer inquiries to various departments and to see the history of the
routing, includes escalation as necessary
• Ability to send ad-hoc emails to customers through the platform
• Ability to post customer education to all social media platforms through one single interface
• Ability to track conversations and tasks completed by employees with all types of customers
(residential, commercial, small/medium business) in all service territories
• Ability for an employee to be guided through an interaction with a customer
• Ability to chat with a customer through a single interface
• Ability for field personnel to pull up a customer account through an app on their mobile device
• Ability to track customer claims

2.3 Outline any business functions and processes that may be impacted (and
how) by the business case for it to be successfully implemented.
Capabilities mentioned in section 2.2 will impact business functions and processes in those specific
areas. These business functions will go through a thorough planning and change management
process to determine what impacts we will have to customers and employees.
2.4 Discuss the alternatives that were considered and any tangible risks and
mitigation strategies for each alternative.
Alternative #1, implementing at a reduced capital cost, reduces the amount of features we are able
to deploy to our employees, resulting in a longer amount of time until the avoided costs are
experienced.

Alternative #2, doing nothing, all existing systems and business processes would remain in their
existing state with no new functionality added. This alternative would put overall customer
satisfaction at risk. Lower customer satisfaction would result in higher costs in serving dissatisfied
customer, increased customer complaints to Avista and to our commissions, and a lack of trust of
our company. We are enhancing the CXP based on our strategy of putting the customer at the center
and to improve overall customer interaction and experience; if we do not improve the customer
experience by providing the proper tools to our employees to serve our customers, then we put
meeting current customer expectations at risk. We currently enjoy high customer satisfaction scores,
but if we do nothing, we are at risk of this going down.
DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 35 of 39
Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 7 of 10
2.5 Include a timeline of when this work will be started and completed.
Describe when the investments become used and useful to the customer.
spend, and transfers to plant by year.
This business case is a program and will be executed over the next 5 years in an agile fashion.
Multiple projects will exist per year and functionality will be released to users in an on-going fashion.
Transfers to plant will occur 3 times per year, April, July, and November.

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
CXP Program $6,000,000 $6,000,000 $5,000,000 $5,000,000 $5,000,000
Transfer to
Plant
Estimates
April: $2m
July: $2m
November: $2m
April: $2m
July: $2m
November: $2m
April: $1.5m
July: $1.5m
November: $2m
April: $1.5m
July: $1.5m
November: $2m
April: $1.5m
July: $1.5m
November: $2m

2.6 Discuss how the proposed investment aligns with strategic vision, goals,
objectives and mission statement of the organization.

Our corporate Mission Statement says simply: “We improve our customers’ lives through
innovative energy solutions” and continues to say that “We put those we serve at the center of
everything we do.” The foundation of the CXP work is rooted in that commitment and is our key
technology initiative aimed at delivering upon that strategy. As the program matures it will
continue to deliver value in many areas of the business and across multiple customer journeys
that will result in enhanced customer experiences.
2.7 Include why the requested amount above is considered a prudent
investment, providing or attaching any supporting documentation. In
addition, please explain how the investment prudency will be reviewed
and re-evaluated throughout the project

CXP prudency should be evaluated based upon three criteria. First, cost avoidance as
discussed in section 1.5 above. Second, cost avoidance of technology systems that will be
reduced or eliminated as systems are combined into CXP. Third, improved customer
satisfaction and engagement as we improve business processes and make interactions more
proactive and personalized. Although the benefits in the third category are more intangible and
difficult to measure and assign a financial value to, they are an inherent expectation from
customers. Collectively, we are confident that those three benefits combined make CXP a
prudent investment.

These cost avoidance values are estimates at this point, although conservative and based on
Salesforce expertise and past implementations, and will be monitored and validated as the
program progresses to monitor prudency and to identify potential program changes as we learn
more. Actual value will be tracked and reported as more processes are rolled out and more
users are benefiting from the system.
2.8 Supplemental Information
2.8.1 Identify customers and stakeholders that interface with the business case
Customers will interface with Avista personnel who will be using the technology identified in this
business case to serve customers.
DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 36 of 39
Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 8 of 10
2.8.2 Identify any related Business Cases
The work in this business case is not related to work in other business cases.

DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 37 of 39
Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 9 of 10

3.1 Steering Committee or Advisory Group Information
This business case will be governed by the Customer Facing Technology (CFTP) &
Customer Experience Platform (CXP) Governance group. This group prioritizes and
governs the projects under the Customer Experience Platform throughout the entire
project lifecycle. They then surface these to the IS/IT PMO for execution.

3.2 Provide and discuss the governance processes and people that will
provide oversight
The CFTP Governance Group meets on a monthly basis.
Members include:
Kevin Christie – VP External Affairs and CCO
Jim Kensok – VP CIO & CSO
Latisha Hill – VP Community & Economic Vitality
Mike Broemeling – Director of Customer and Shared Services
Nikdel Hossein – Director Applications and System Planning
Jim Corder – Director IT and Security
Dana Anderson – Director Corporate Communications
David Howell – Director Operations, West Operations and Asset Management
Josh DiLuciano – Director Electric Engineering
Anna Scarlett – Director Energy Efficiency
Kelly Magalsky – Director Products, Services, and Customer Technology
Kelly Conley – Sr Manager Digital Communications and Corporate Communications
Stephanie Myers – Manager Customer Solutions and Products & Services
Graham Smith – Manager Applications Delivery and Application Support
Facilitators include:
Kim Henscheid – Program Manager Customer Experience Platform
Ethan Jelinek – IT Sr Program Manager

3.3 How will decision-making, prioritization, and change requests be
documented and monitored
Decision making and general prioritization decisions for the business case and
programs will be documented and monitored through monthly meeting notes.
Project specific decisions will be documented within the PMO’s current process
through project change orders.

DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 38 of 39
Customer Experience Platform Program
Business Case Justification Narrative Page 10 of 10

The undersigned acknowledge they have reviewed the Customer Experience
Platform Program business case and agree with the approach it presents.
Significant changes to this will be coordinated with and approved by the undersigned
or their designated representatives.

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Stephanie Myers
Title: Customer Solutions Manager
Role: Business Case Owner

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Kelly Magalsky
Title: Director of Customer Technology,
and Products and Services

Role: Business Case Sponsor

Signature: Date:
Print Name: Hossein Nikdel
Title: Director of Applications and
Systems Planning

Role: Business Case Sponsor

Template Version: 05/28/2020
DocuSign Envelope ID: BE08A2E9-A93E-4142-BBBD-3C17077B759A
Jul-30-2020 | 2:43 PM PDT
Jul-30-2020 | 3:39 PM PDT
Jul-31-2020 | 7:45 AM PDT
Exhibit No. 6 Case Nos. AVU-E-21-01 & AVU-G-21-01 K. Magalsky, Avista
Schedule 1, Page 39 of 39