20170327 Decision Memo.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
COMMISSIONER RAPER
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON
COMMISSION SECRETARY
LEGAL
WORKING T'ILE
FROM:INTA -17-DL-
DATE:
FORMAL COMPLAINT OF VIRGINIA ROTHENBERGER
AGAINST II{TERMOUNTAIN GAS COMPANY
On January 23,2017, the Commission Staffreceived an informal complaint from Ms.
Rothenberger regarding Intermountain Gas' billing and payment processes. Ms. Rothenberger is
unsatisfied with the outcome of the Staffs efforts to informally resolve her complaint and
requested that the Commission consider it as a formal complaint. Due to the customer's physical
limitations, Staffworked with the customer to prepare this decision memo in lieu of requiring her
to file a formal complaint in writing.
BACKGROUND
With assistance from her Apartment Manager, Ms. Rothenberger signed up for Auto Pay
with [ntermountain Gas in May 2015. She chose that option because she is 85 years old, has
macular degeneration and can't see well enough to write checks. When she signed up for Auto
Pay, she asked that the Company not debit her checking aecount until after the third of each
month to ensure that she has funds available. The customer states that she receives funds around
the first of each month.
The customer's billing statements reflect that her bills were due on the 3rd of the month
or later. Intermountain Gas states that it set up Ms. Rotherberger's Auto Pay to debit her account
about I I days after the billing date (the date the bill issues). Company records indicate that for
most months, despite her requested delay, the debit occurred before the third of the month and
always prior to the due date. On at least one occasion, the customer's account was low on funds
CHRIS HECHT
MARCH 22,2017
RE:
DECISION MEMORANDUM MARCH 22,2A17
on the date Intermountain Gas withdrew funds. As a result, the customer's financial institution
covered the payment and then charged the customer a $30.00 overdraft fee. The customer opted
for "level pay" billing, such that she is billed the same amount each month based on average
usage, rather than having her monthly bill fluctuate. Her level pay amount is currently $31.00 a
month, so the bank's $30.00 overdraft fee effectively doubled the amount she had to pay in
November 2016. However, Ms. Rotherberger was ultimately successful in having the bar*
reverse the overdraft fee,
According to Intermountain Gas, the Company advised Ms. Rothenberger before she
signed up for Auto Pay that under the program she could not schedule payments for a particular
day of the month. Later, after Ms. Rotherberger called expressing concem about the withdrawal
dates, a customer service representative (CSR) agreed to cancel Auto Pay for one month and told
the customer she would need to make other arrangements to pay her bill. The CSR advised the
customer that she would need to send a written request to cancel Auto Pay permanently, and the
customer subsequently did so.
The Company was unwilling to offer a further solution until Commission Staff
questioned whether the Company was complying with Rule 2A2.02 of the Commission's Utility
Customer Relations Rules. Rule 202 states:
202. DUE DATE OF BILLS * DELINQUENT BILLS (Rule 202).
01. Ordinary Due Date. The utility may require that bills for service be paid within a
specified time after the billing date. The minimum specified time after the billing date is
fifteen ( l5) days (or twelve (12) days after mailing or delivery, if bills are mailed or
delivered more than three (3) days after the billing date.) Upon the expiration of this
time without payment the bill may be considered dolinquent.
02. Hardship Exemption. When a residential customer certifies in writing to the utility
that payment by the ordinary due date creates a hardship due to the particular date
when the customer receives funds, the due date shall be extended up to an additional
fifteen (15) days or at the option of the utility the customer shall be billed in a cycle that
corresponds to the customer's receipt of funds.
The Company then agreed to adjust the billing due date to 25 days after the billing date to
allow the customer to pay her bill after the third of the month without incurring a late payment
charge. The Company suggested that the customer find someone to help her set up a recurring
monthly payment through her financial institution. Since Intermountain Gas adjusts level pay
amounts at least once a year, the customer would have to reset the payment amount with her
financial institution. lf the customer chose to discontinue her level payment plan, her bill
DECISION MEMORANDUM MARCH 22,20172
amount would fluctuate from month to month. Setting up a recurring payment amount would be
irnpossible if the amount owed changed monthly.
The Company's adjustment of the due date did not resolve the customer's problem. The
Company would not allow the customer to remain on Auto Pay but adjust the date when funds
were withdrawn from the customer's account, or change the customer's billing cycle, either of
which would change the date funds are withdrawn. Staff notes that Rule 202 was adopted by the
Commission long before Auto Pay became an option for customers. In StafPs opinion, the spirit
of the rule is to accommodate customers who want to pay on a date that does not conflict with
when they receive funds. In Ms. Rothenberger's particular situation, the customer's best option
would be for the Company to modify Auto Pay to withdraw funds based on the bill due date
instead of the date the bill is issued.
Staffnotes that under Intermountain Gas'Auto Pay program, the required payment
amount is withdrawn from the customer's financial institution approximately I I days after the
billing date. This is about one week prior to the bill's actual due date. In effect this compels
Auto Pay customers to pay their bills earlier than necessary. Intermourttain Gas is the only
energy utility serving ldaho customers that withdraws funds based on something other than the
customer's bill due date.
CUSTOMER'S REQUESTED RELIEF
l. Although Ms. Rothenberger has cancelled Auto Pay, she maintains that it is unfair to
not provide customers with the flexibility to adjust the date that funds are withdrawn from their
financial institutions, particularly under circumstances where funds are routinely withdrawn a
week prior to the actual due date of bills. Even though she has chosen to stop using Auto Pay,
she thinks that the Company should modify it to meet other customers' needs and wants to
pursue that remedy.
2. In exploring her available payment options, she discovered that she would be required
to pay a convenience fee of $1.99 to pay her bill with a debit or credit card, an amount she
refuses to pay. Furthermore, she believes that customers should be able to pay the Company
using a debit card without paying a fee.
3DECISION MEMORAI.TDUM MARCH 22,2017
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Ms. Rothenberger was not satisfied with the outcome of her informal complaint.
Consequently she asked Staff to assist in opening a Formal Complaint. See Rules 23,25,and 54,
IDAPA 31.01.023, .024 Al.tD .054.
Staffrecommends tlrat the Commission waive the requirement that Ms. Rothenberger file
a written complaint and accept this decision memo as representing her concems. Stafffurther
recommends that the Commission issue a Summons to lntermountain Gas Compann and direct
the Company to file a response to the complaint.
COMMISSION DECISION
Does the Commission wish to accept Ms. Rothenberger's formal complaint and issue a
Summons to Intermountain Gas?
(L l*,
Chris Hecht
UdmcmoelRothcnbcrgcr Formll Comploint
4DECISION MEMORANDUM MARCH 22,2017