20170330Summons.pdf

ldaho Public Utilities Commission
P.0. Bor &t72tl, Boise,l0 tl3TAHW4
C,L Bdcrr Govemor
Paul $cllandcr, CommlsConctIGistin! Rapar, Commissioncr
Eric Andcrson, Commbsloner
March 28,2017
Via Certified Mail
Mark Chiles
Vice President of Regulatory Affairs
Intermountain Gas Company
555 South Cole Road
Boise, ID 83709
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Re: Case No. INT-G-17-02
Dear Mr. Chiles
Enclosed please find a Summons and Complaint issued against Intermountain Gas
Company in Case No. INT-G-ll-02. As directed in the Summons, you are to file a
rvritten answer or motion in defense of said Complaint rvith this Commission within 21
days of the senice date on the Summons. Your answer or response to the ',vritten
Complaint should be in a narrative form.
Sincerely,
Diane M. Hanian
Commission Secretary
Enclosures
Cc: Mike McGrath, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Intermountain Gas Company
Ron Williams, Esq., Attorney for Intermountain Gas Company
Virginia Rothenberger, Complainant
vs
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMI\{ISSION
Virginia Rothenberger,
Complainant,SUMMONS
CASB NO. INT-G.I7-02
Intermountain Gas Company,
Respondent.
THE STATE OF IDAHO SENDS GREETINGS TO TIIE ABO\IE-NAMED RESPONDENT.
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that a Complaint has been filed with the Idaho
Public Utilities Commission by the above-named Complainant; and
YOU ARE HEREBY DIRECTED to file a r.vritten answer or written motion in
defense of said Complaint rvithin twenty-one (21) days of the service date of this Summons. The
answer or motion in defense should respond to the issues raised in the attached decision
memorandllm prepared by Commission Staff.
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that unless you make a r,vritten filing',vithin the
time specified, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission may take such action against you as is
prayed for in the Complaint or as it deems appropriate under Title 61 of the ldaho Code.
WITNESS my hand and the seal of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission this
day of March 2011 .
Diane M. Hanian
Commission Secretary
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RE
DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
COMMISSIONER RAPER
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON
COMMISSION SECRETARY
LEGAL
WORKING F'ILE
FROM: CHRIS HECHT a4vlr,. //t/7'6 -/7-oz
DATE: MARCH 22,2017
FORMAL COMPLAINT OT VIRGINIA ROTHENBERGER
AGAINST INTERMOUNTAIN GAS COMPANY
On January 23,2017, the Commission Staffreceived an informal complaint from Ms.
Rothenberger regarding Intermounlain Gas' billing and payment processes. Ms. Rothenberger is
unsatisfied rvith the outcome of the StafPs efforts to informally resolve her complaint and
requested that the Commission consider it as a formal complaint. Due to the customer's physical
limitations, Staff rvorked with the customer to prepare this decision memo in lieu of requiring her
to file a formal complaint in rwiting.
BACKGROUND
With assistance from her Apartment Manager,lr4s. Rothenberger signed up for Auto Pay
rvith Intermountain Gas in May 2016. She chose that option because she is 85 years old, has
macular degeneration and can't see rvell enough to write checks. When she signed up for Auto
Pay, she asked that the Company not debit her checking account 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 rvere 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 occuned before the third of the month and
always prior to the due date. On at least one occasion, the customer's account rvas lorv on funds
DECISION MEMORANDUM MARCH 22,2017
on the date Intermountain Gas rvithdreiv funds. As a result, the customer's financial institution
cot'ered 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 cunently $31.00 a
month, so the bank's $30.00 overdraft fee effectively doubled the amount she had to pay in
November 2016. Horvever, Ms. Rotherberger rvas ultimately successful in having the bank
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 concern about the rvithdrarval
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 rvith 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 rvithin a
specified time after the billing date. The minimum specified time after the billing date is
fifteen (15) days (or hvelve (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 rvithout payment, the bill may be considered delinquent.
02. Flardship Exemption. When a residential customer certifies in rvriting to the utility
that payment by the ordlnary due date creates a hardship due to the particular date
rvhen 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 rece ipt 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 rvithout 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 rvould have to reset the payment amount with her
financial institution. If the customer chose to discontinue her level payment plan, her bill
DECISION MEMORANDUM MARCH 2?,21fi
amount rvould fluctuate from month to month. Setting up a recun'ing payment amount rvould be
impossible if the amount orved changed monthly.
The Company's adjustment of the due date did not resolve the customer's problem. The
Company rvould not allorv the customer to remain on Auto Pay but adjust the date rvhen funds
rvere rvithdrarvn from the customer's account, or change the customer's billing cycle, either of
rvhich rvould change the date funds are rvithdrarvn. Staff notes that Rule 202 rvas 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 rvho rvant to pay on a date that does not conflict with
tvhen they receive funds. In Ms. Rothenberger's particular situation, the customer's best option
rvould be for the Company to modify Auto Pay to rvithdraw 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 withdrarvn from the customer's financial institution approximately I I days after the
billing date. This is about one rveek prior to the bill's actual due date. In effect, this compels
Auto Pay customers to pay their bills earlier than necessary. Intermountain Gas is the only
energy utility serving Idaho customers that rvithdraws funds based on something other than the
customer's bill due date.
CUSTOMER'S REQUBSTED RELIEF
L Although Ms. Rothenbcrger has cancelled Auto Pay, she maintains that it is unlair to
not provide customers with the flexibility to adjust the date that funds are rvithdrarvn from their
financial institutions, particularly under circumstances rvhere funds are routinely rvithdrau'n a
rveek 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 rvants to
pursue that remedy.
2. in exploring her available palment options, she discovered that she rvould be required
to pay a convenience fee of $ 1.99 to pay her bill rvith 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.
JDECISION MEMORANDUM MARCH 22,2417
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Ms. Rothenberger rvas not satisfied with the outcome of her informal complaint.
Consequently stre asked Staff to assist in opening a Formal Complaint. See Rules 23,25, and 54,
IDAPA 31.01.023, .024 AND .054.
Staff recommends that the Commission waive the requirement that Ms. Rothenberger file
a written complaint and accept this decision memo as representing her concems. Staff further
recommends that the Commission issue a Summons to Intermountain Gas Compann and direct
the Company to file a response to the complaint.
COMMISSION I}ECISION
Does the Commission wish to accept Ms. Rothenberger's formal complaint and issue a
Summons to Intermountain Gas?
C!a.- Lu,
Chris Hecht
Udmcmos/Rothcnbcrger Formol Complaint
4DECISION MEMORANDUM MARCH 2Z,7OI7