2020 ISQ Program Report.pdf

.Sittsta
Avista Corp.
1411 East Mission Ave., P.O. Box3727
Spokane, WA 99220-0500
Telephone: [phone]
Toll Free: 800-227-9t87
Apil28,2Al
(1 i,;,IFL..:,,,i-I::
r'*..; --*0?tr1
c.?
I":l
i":.
.'Iur,
3:J
f\)
-1'
l\)
C,I
Ct'.
i- r't
i f-j
$'1j
U,
Jan Noriyuki, Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
11331 W. Chinden Blvd. Bldg. 8, Ste. 201-4
Boise,Idaho 83714
RE: Avista Utilities 2020Idaho Service Quality Program Report
Dear Ms. Noriyuki:
Attached for filing is the 2020 Idaho Service Quality (ISO Program Report of Avista
Corporation, dba Avista Utilities (Avista or "Company"), pursuant to the Company's electic tariff
Schedule 85 and natural gas Schedule 185.
Please direct any questions regarding this filing to Jaime Majure at [phone].
Sincerely,
lols/4a,rc gare@
Shawn Bonfield
Sr. Manager of Regulatory Policy & Stratery
Avista Utilities
s09-495-2782
shawn. bonfi eld@avi stacorp. com
Enclosure
Table of Contents
I. Introduction................
II. Executive Summary
Customer Service Measures - Results for 2020.......
Electric Systern Reliability - Results for 2020....
Customer Service Guarantees - Results for 2020....
III. Customer Service Measures..
Measure 1: Customer Satisfaction with the Telephone Service provided by Avista's
Customer Service Representatives........... ............ 9
Measure 2: Customer Satisfaction with Avista's Field Service Representatives...... 10
Measure 3: Answering Our Customers' Calls Promptly.. ..... 11
Measure 4: Avista's Response Time for Electric Emergencies................................ l3
Measure 5: Avista's Response Time for Natural Gas Emergencies .......14
IV. Electric System Reliability .......
2
J
3
4
6
8
t6
Measure 1: Number of Electric System Outages ..................17
Measure 2: Average Duration of Electric System Outages.... ................. l8
V. Customer Service Guarantees ............. 19
Guarantee 1: Keeping Electric and Natural Gas Service Appointments................... 19
Guarantee 2: Prompt Restoration of Electric System Outage .................20
Guarantee 3: Promptly Turning on Electric or Natural Gas Service Upon Request.2l
Guarantee 4: Promptly Providing Cost Estimates to Customers for New Service ... 21
Guarantee 5: Promptly Responding to Customers' Bill Inquiries... ........22
Guarantee 6: Promptly Responding to Customers' Meter Problems 23
Guarantee 7: Providing Customers Advance Notice of Scheduled Electric Interruptions
23
Appendix A - Service Quality Program Report Card.............25
Appendix B - Definitions and Index Calculations 26
IAvista Utilities - 2020Idaho Service Quality Program Report
I. Introduction
On December 28, 2017, the Commission
issued Order No. 33953 in the Company's
general rate case,l approving the Settlement
Stipulation filed by the Parties2 and
requiring the Company to make additional
compliance filings to meet the terms and
conditions of the Settlement. With respect to
Service Quality/Perfornance Measures, the
Parties agreed that:
Avista has established Service Quality Performance, Customer Guarantees and a Service
Qualtty Measure Report Card for its customers in Washington. The Company and
interested parties will work to develop similar performance standards, customer
guarantees and a reporting mechanism for its ldaho custorners. Following those
discussions, the Company will file its proposal with the Commission requesting
implementation on or before July I, 2018. (Stipulation and Settlement Para. 2I)
An initial draft of theproposed Idaho Service Quality (ISQ) Program was provided to Commission
Staff(Staff) on February 15, 2018. Through the course of subsequent discussions and collaborative
efforts, Avista and Staff agreed on a set of service measures and accompanying benchmarks and
reporting requirements that, taken together, provide an overall assessment of the quality of the
Company's service to its Idaho customers. Referred to collectively as Avista's "Idaho Service
Quality Program," (Program) and approved by the Commission on November 1, 2018 with
associated tariffSchedule 85 for electric service and Schedule 185 for natural gas service, these
measures include:
,/ Five (5) individual measures of the level of customer service and satisfaction that the
Company must achieve each year;3
r' Reporting on two (2) measures of electric systern reliability;
r' Seven (7) individual service standards through which Avista provides customers a payment
or bill credit in the event the Company does not deliver the required service level (Customer
Service Guarantees).
Under this agreernent, the Company also reports to its customers and the Commission annually on
its prior-year performance in meeting these customer service quality and reporting requirements.
The following report includes a sunmary of the 2020 annual results of its Idaho Service Quality
Program, followed by a more in-depth explanation of the measures themselves and associated
annual outcomes.
I Case Nos. AVU-E-I 7-01 and AVU-G-17-02
2 Stipulation "Parties" include Avista IPUC Commission Staff, Clearwater Paper Corporatio4 Idaho Forest Group, LLC, and the
Community Action Partnership Association of Idaho (CAPAD.
3 Four individual customer service measures exist within each of Avista's approved tariffschedules; the fourth benchmark differs
in its requirements between electric and natural gas service, resulting in five separate measures altogether.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 2
II. Executive Summary
ln compliance with Order No. 34181 in Case Nos. AVU-E-18-10 and AVU-G-18-06, Avista's
2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report (Report) provides the annual performance results for
the Company's ISQ Program for 2020. This is the Company's third year reporting information
regarding Customer Service Measures and Elechic System Reliability for its Idaho service
territory, and its second year reporting on Customer Service Guarantees (Guarantees). Tracking of
the Company's performance on these Guarantees, including the application of customer credits,
began on January 1.,2019. During its 2020 Program year, Avista is pleased to report that the
Company has once again exceeded all six of its Customer Service Measures and was able to not
only maintain but improve upon many 2019 benchmarks despite the complexities brought on by
the COVID-l9 health and economic crisis. While the COVID-I9 pandemic introduced
unprecedented challenges, such as a work-from-home transition for the majority of Avista
employees, the Company was able to maintain excellence across its home-bound Contact Center
employees, with 83.4% of calls answered live within 60 seconds. Avista also successfully met
99.95% of its applicable Customer Service Guarantees (Guarantees) in 2020, providing customers
a guarantee credit in just 20 out of 39,657 cases. Finally, the Company celebrates a l00o/o success
rate for the 24-hour restoration Customer Service Guarantee, restoring service within 24 hours of
a customer reporting an outage (excluding major storm events) for all 27,771 outage incidents
reported for 2020. The overall success rate of these Guarantees shows Avista's continued
commitment to serving our customers.
Customer Service Measures - Results for 2020
Listed in Table No. I below are the five customer service measures, including their respective
service requirements (benchmarks), and the Company's performance results in meeting them for
2020. Avista achieved all its customer service benchmarks for the year.
Table No. I - 2020 Results.for Attista's Custonter Sentice Measures
3
Percent of customers satisfied with our Contact
Center services, based on survey results At least 90%96.5%,/
Percent of customers satisfied with field
services, based on survey results At least 90%96.3%,/
Percent of calls answered live within 60
seconds by our Contact Center At least 80%83.4%,/
Average time from customer call to arrival of
field technicians in response to electric system
emergencies, per year
No more than
65 minutes 48.6 minutes ,/
Average time from customer call to arrival of
field technicians in response to natural gas
system emergencies, per year
No more than
55 minutes 42 minutes ,/
Customer Service Measures 2020
PerformanceBcnchnrark Achiel'ed
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report
Electric System Reliability - Results for 2020
Table Nos. 2 and 3 below list the two
measures of electric system reliabilityto
be reported by Avista each year as part
of its ISQ Program. Because the annual
electric reliability results often vary
substantially year-to-year (the case for
any electric utility's system), it is
difEcult to derive a meaningful
assessment of the Company's system
reliability from any single-year's result.
Consequently, in addition to reporting
the current-yearresult for each measure,
Avista also reports the average value of
each measure for the previous five year
Eil
il,lra 0rEll. oTCl t.hr.-t rI $tr::-:li
Gmlhr
-H
l0
\
period, the average for the current five-year period (which includes the results for the current year
- 2020), and the historic "five'year rolling average" from 2006 - 2020. This data provides some
context for better interpreting each year's reliability results.
Table No. 2 - 2020 Resultsfor Number of Outages on Avista's System 6,erct)
Table No. 3 - Results.for Duration of Outages on Avista's System in 2020 6AIDI)
a See Appendix B for a more detailed definition of these reliability measures and calculation of indices.
5 See Appendix B.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report
LB Grarde.
4
\'r'.,,ir1r(jti,ir,ttrrl l,1,rll1'rr.ir,tr t.J1l1lt,1,,,ir', [)r,,tr,i I
Average number of sustained outages
(intemrptions) per customer for the year
lsnmqa
0.89
Per Customer
0.94
Per Customer
0.97
Per Customer
2020
S1'stcm
Itcsults
Currcnt 5-\'car
Avcragc
(2016-2020)
Prel'ious S-Year
Al'crage
(20 l 5-20r 9)
Number of Outages
Average duration of sustained outages
(intemrptions) per customer for the
year. (SAIDI)s
132 Minutes 142 Minutes 151 Minutes
2020
S"vstem
Results
Currcnt S-Year
Averagc
(20t6-2020)
Prcvious 5-Year
Average
(20 r s-201 e)
C)utage Duration
Figure Nos. 1 and 2 below show the
"five-year rolling average" for each
reliability measure from 2006 through
2020. As shown in the figures, the long-
term trend for each reliability measure
is fairly stable during this period. The
trend in number of outages is slightly
declining, while that for outage duration
is variable but steady, showing an
overall trend toward improved system
reliability. Though the Company
formally reports its reliability results for
its entire electric system in its
Washington Electric Service Reliability
Report, provided annually to Idaho as a courtesy, Avista also agreed to track and report its Idaho-
specific annual results as part of the ISQ Program. The ldaho-only number of average electric
system outages per customer in2020 was 1.09, and the average total outage duration per customer
was 159.30 minutes.
Figure No. I Historic Fit,e-)'ear Rolling Averoge./br Number o./ Eleclric' (hrtages on Avi,sla's
Electric System (SAIFI)
I lrstotrc Itir c-\'e itt ,\r ct'iige s ol tltc .'\ttnttal Nlttttlrct' ot' ( )tttaue s
lS,\lt lr
rl
I r:
il \
il/
rl
-1irl ,.t'
,\.\ \ -.\\,
I:O
.t.
't 't.\\' _.\\'
t.iJ
\.\-r.\'
i tri
Iol
-$' . \\
I ri5 l')1
')
al-
=
a:
7
1)ol
,: ..\ r\\.t\t -\\' ^\\'
5Avista Utilities - 2020Idaho Service Quality Program Report
Figure No. 2 - Historic Five-Year Rolling Average for Duration of Outages on Avista's Electric
System (SAIDD
Historic Five-Year Averages of Annual Outage [)uratiott
(SAIDI )
t80
t60 ls5
l{-lS0 l5l lJ-l5l tJ9 l5l
ljg lJl Hi
l -16lt0
o
{.,Olt
120
t00
80
60
l0
20
0
^r..$ ,..4t
,tts' ,"tt'
Customer Service Guarantees - Results for 2020
Our Idatro Service Quality Program includes seven
types of service for which we provide Customer
Service Guarantees. In the event that the Company
fails to meet a Customer Service Guarantee, Avista
provides the customer or applicant a bill qedit or
payment in the amount of $50 in recognition of the
inconvenience. All costs associated with the
payment of Customer Service Guarantees are paid
by the Company's shareholders and are not paid by
our customers in their rates for service or otherwise.
Table No. 4 below provides a list of the seryices
covered in the ISQ Progpam Guarantees, as well as
the Company's performance results in meeting these
Guarantees in2020.
,.ts ,..t',"4 ,.." ,..4- ,..$ ,..t- . ^N ,..'-.+-'r..+''r..*' '^).an' " +tf" 5"^otto
,N,.tt*,a.t$")ts ,N
6Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quafity Program Report
Keeping Our Electric and Natural Gas Service
Appointments scheduled with our customers 1,200 3 $1s0
Restore service within 24 hours of a customer
reporting an outage (excluding major storm events)27,771 0 $0
Turn on power the same day the request is received 1,872 2 $100
Provide a cost estimate for new electric or natural
gas service within l0 business days of receiving
the request
1,,462 0 $0
Investigate and respond to a billing inqury within
10 business days if unable to answer a question on
first contact
322 0 $0
Investigate a reported meter problem or conduct a
meter test and report the results within 20 business
days
t54 4 $200
Notiff customers at least 24 hours in advance of a
planned power outage lasting longer than 5 minutes 6,856 11 ss50
Totals 39,637 20 $1,ooo
('ustonrcr Scrl ice Guarantcc $ PairlSucccssful Nlissctl
Table No. 4 - 2020 Resultsfor Avista's Customer Service Guarantees
7Avista Utilities -2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report
III. Customer Service Measures
There are many points of service customers may have with Avista, and each contributes to the
overall impression of the Company and the level of satisfaction associated with our services. While
Avista has tracked its customers' satisfaction with primary services such as customer contact
center and field services for many years, the Company has also been interested in knowing whether
its performance is meeting customers' broader service expectations. To accommodate this interest,
Avista's Voice of the Customer (VOC) survey asks customers to rate their level of satisfaction
with the overall service they receive from the Company. This overall measure is believed to be an
important barometer of our customers' satisfaction with the entirety of the integrated services and
value they receive from Avista. As show in Figure No. 3 below, the overall satisfaction of Avista's
customers (either satisfied or very satisfied) has ranged between 93% and 97Yo over the past ten
years.
Figure No. 3 - Percent o.f'Custonrcrs Satis.fied ot" I/er.y Satisfied v'itlt At,istct's Overull Sen,ice Level
20 I 0-2020
I)crccrrt ol' ('trstonlcrs Satislie rl or' \/ct'\, Sat islrcrl
u'itlr Ar ista's ()r erall Set't ice l0 I 0-1010
l (lo
\) -
t
'J.
a
'_
t.
!
2
llt'
(il \).1(, i
0l: :{rlr :0ll 3rt1< :(,16
oi
!j
r)
I
()
l0l{r l0ll 1 I0 1 5 lo le l0l{i
These results are similar to our customers' satisfaction with our contact center and field services,
as reported for the ISQ Program for this same time period. Accordingly, wo believe the results of
the five customer service measures described in the following sections, taken together, provide a
reasonable assessment of our customers' overall satisfaction with the quality and value of our
service.
8Avista Utilities - 2020Idaho Service Quality Program Report
Measure 1: Customer Satisfaction with the Telephone Service provided by Avista's
Customer Service Representatives
As part of Avisto's ldaho Service Quality program, the level of our customers
satisfaction with the telephone service provided by the Company's contact
center will meet or exceed a benchmark of 90%.6
Several factors influence our customers' satisfaction with the quality of telephone service provided
by our customer service representatives and contact center. We measure the importance of these
factors to customers as well as their satisfaction with them each year. These factors, including our
customers' satisfaction (either satisfied or very satisfied) for each factor ln2020 are listed below.
r' The customer service representative handling the customer's call in a friendly,
caring manner. (99%)
r' The customer service representative being informed and knowledgeable. (97oh)
r' The customer service representative meeting the customer's needs promptly.
(e7%)
r' The customer service representative giving the customer all the information they
need in one call. (98o/o)
r' Being connected to a customer service representative in a reasonable amount of
time. (97oh)
2020 Results - The annual survey results for this measure of customer satisfaction show that 96%
percent of Avista's customers were satisfied with the quality of the telephone service they
received from our customer service representatives.
6 The level of Customer satisfaction with telephone service, as provided by the Company's Contact Center, will be at least 90
percent, where:
a. The measure of Customer satisfaction is based on Customers who respond to Avista's quarterly survey of Customer
satisfaction, known as the "Voice ofthe Customet'', as conducted by its indspendent survey contractor;
b. The measure of satisfaction is based on Customers participating in the zurvey who report the level of their satisfaction as
either'osatisfied" or "very satisfied"; and
c. The measure of satisfaction is based on the statistically significant survey results for both electric and natural gas service
for Avista's entire service te,rritory Qdaho, Oregon, and Washington) for the calendar year.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 9
Percent of customers either satisfied or very
satisfied with the Quality of Avista's
Customer Contact Center Representatives
90o/o or
Greater
Satisfied
96%{
Customer Satisfaction u ith Avista's
Contact Center lleprcscntativcs
Scrvicc
Qualitt
201 q
Pcrfornrancc ,\,chicvcd
Table No. 5 - Customer Satisfaction with Avista's Contact Center Representatives in 2020
For the pu{poses of reporting our annual service quality performance under this program, the
Company will continue to use its systern-wide results. Avista will also separately track and report
the results for this measure for our Idaho custom€rs only, though it is not a requirement of the
ISQ Program. For 2020, the percent of Idaho customers satisfied or very satisfied with the
Company's customer service representatives and contact center was 9802, with 90% of our
customers noting they were "very satisfied" and 8% noting they were "satisfied".
Measure 2: Customer Satisfaction with Avista's Field Service Representatives
As part ofAvista's Service Quality Measures program, the level of our customers'
satisfoction with the Company's field services will meet or exceed a benchmark
of 90%.7
The quality of our field services and the satisfaction of our customers is influenced by several
factors. Each year we measure the importance of these factors to our customers and their
satisfaction with each aspect of our service. These factors, including our customers' level of
satisfaction (either satisfied or vely satisfied) with each factor in2020, are listed below.
r' The service representative keeping you informed of the status of your job. (94%)
r' The service representative or service crew being courteous and respectful. (98%)
r' The service representative or service crew being informed and knowledgeable.
(e8%)
r' The service representative or service crew leaving your property in the condition
they found it. (98%)
7 The level of Customer satisfaction with the Company's field services will be at least 90 percent, where:
a. The measure of Customer satisfaction is based on Customers who respond to Avista's quarterly survey of Customer
satisfaction, known as the "Voice ofthe Customer", as conducted by its independent survey contractor;
b. The measure of satisfaction is based on Customers participating in the survey who report the level of their satisfaction as
either "satisfied" or "very satisfied"; and
c. The measure of satisfaction is based on the statistically significant survey results for both electric and natural gas service
for Avista's entire service territory (Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) for the calendar year.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Qualrty Program Report l0
r' The service work being completed according to the customer's expectations.
(e7%)
{ The overall qualrty of the work performed by Avista Utilities. (97%)
2020 Results - The annual survey results for this measure, as reported in Table No. 6 below, show
that96Yopucent of our customers were satisfied with the service provided by Avista's field service
representatives.
Table No. 6 - Customer Satisfaction wilh Avista's Field Services Representatives in 2020
As with its contact center customer satisfaction, Avista will continue to use its system-wide results
for the purposes of reporting our annual service quality performance under this program. The
Company will also separately tack and report the results for this measure for our Idaho customers
only, although it is not a requirernent of the ISQ Program.For2020,the percent of Idalro customers
satisfied or very satisfied with the Company's field service representatives was in-line with the
system-wide results at960/o,with87% of customers "very satisfied" and9Yo "satisfted" with the
quality of our field services.
Measure 3: Answering Our Customers' Calls Promptly
As part of Avista's Service Qaality Measures program, the percentage of
customer calls answered live by a customer service representative within 60
seconds will average 80%o or greater.s
This particular customer service measure is one of the subsets of service attributes that contribute
to the customer's overall satisfaction with our service representatives and contact center. Often
referred to as the 'oGrade of Service" or "GOS'', this measure is the average percentage of customer
calls to our contact center that are answered live by a customer service representative within 60
8 The percentage ofCustomer calls answered by a live representative within 60 seconds will average at least 80 percent for the
calendar year, where:
a. The measure of response time is based on results from the Company's Contact Center, and is initiated when the Customer
requests to speak to a Customer senrice representative; and
b. Response time is based on the combined results for both electric and natural gas Customers for Avista's entire service territory
(Idaho, Oregon, and Washington).
Percent of customers either satisfied or very
satisfied with the Quality of Avista's Field
Service Rqlresentatives
90Yo or
Greater
Satisfied
960/o ,/
(luslorne r Satisfaction n ith Avista's Iricltl
Serviccs ltcprescntativcs
Sen icc
Qualitr
2lt20
Pcrlbrnruncc .,\chier cd
Avista Utilities -2020Idaho Service Qualrty Program Report 1l
seconds for those customers who wish to speak with a service representative. When a customer
calls Avista's contact center, their call is initially received by our automated (voice activated)
phone system. The customer is presented the option of using the phone system for self-service
(e.g. to check their account balance or pay their bill, etc.) or to speak with a customer service
representative live to meet their service need. Avista's response time in answering the customer's
call is the time that elapses between the customer's request to speak to a representative and when
their call is answered live by a representative.
For many years Avista has maintained a service benchmark of 80% or greater, even though some
utilities and businesses have established a higher GOS (e.g. 90%o or a goal of answering calls within
30 seconds). Because it requires an increased level of staffing and cost to customers to achieve a
higher service level, Avista has focused on lower cosUno cost measures, such as effective
ernployee fiaining and coaching to achieve superior standards for attributes such as courtesy,
caring, knowledge, ild proficiency, to maintain our very-high level of overall customer
satisfaction with our service representatives and contact center.
In addition to responding to customers effectively, Avista has implemented measures to help
reduce the overall volume of customer calls, which helps reduce the cost of service paid by our
customers. These efflorts include providing customers a way to communicate with the Company
using their preferred "channel" of communication, such as e-mail, customer self-service via
website, or the automated phone systern. In addition to providing numerous communication
channels, the Company has focused on enhancing customer self-service options as discussed
above. These efforts not only help reduce the volume of calls to our contact center and maintain a
high level of service at lower cost, but also improve customer experience and satisfaction.
2020 Results - Avista's customers made a total of 533,983 qualifuing calls to the Company that
were answered live by a customer service representative in 2020. Of these calls, 445,275 were
answered live in 60 seconds or less, for a GOS of approximately 83.4oh, as shown in Table No. 7
below.
Table No. 7 - Percenl of Avista's Customer Calls Ansu,ered Live u,ithin 60 Seconds in 2020
80% or
Greater 83.4o/o ,/
Percent of Avista's customer calls answered
live by a customer service representative
within 60 seconds
Pcrcent of Avista's Customcr Calls
Ans*'cred Livc Within 60 Scconds
Scrvice
Quality
2020
Pcrformance Achievcd
Avista Utilities - 2020Idaho Service Quality Program Report l2
Measure 4: Avista's Response Time for Electric Emergencies
As part of Avista's Service Quality Measures program, the average response time
to an electric system emergency will not exceed 65 minutes for the yeane
When customers call Avista to report an electric emergency, the Company works with the
customer to quickly ascertain the particular circumstances being reported and instructs the
customer on how best to ensure the safety of themselves and that of others until help arrives. We
immediately begin the dispatch of service personnel best situated to respond in the shortest time
possible. Once at the scene, Avista's first priority is to make the situation safe for our customers,
citizens, other ernergency responders, and our employees. Restoration of the problem can begin
once the safety of the site is secured and needed resources arrive at the scene. The Company's
ability to respond quickly to an elecffical emergency is influenced by many factors, some of which
include the urban or rural locale, the location of the nearest available respondent (especially in
rural areas), the time of day, season of the year, weather conditions, traffic, and the presence of
other simultaneous emergency events across the system. For this measure, the response time to an
electric emergency is the elapsed time between the confirmation of the emergency with the
customer (when the dispatch field order is given) and when the Avista service person arrives at the
scene.
2020 Results - The average response time for the year is calculated by dividing the sum of all
applicable elecffic emergency response times by the total number of qualiffing electric emergency
incidents. Avista received 271 quralifying electric emergency re,ports in its Idaho service area in
2020, which had a cumulative response time of approximately 13,169 minutes. The resulting
average for 2020 was 48.6 minutes, as noted in Table No. 8 below.
Table No. 8 - Avisla's Response Time.for Eleclric Emergencies in 2020
e The Company's average response time to an electric system emergency in Idaho will not exceed 65 minutes for the calendar year,
where:
a. Response time is measured from the time of the Customer call to the arrival of a field service technician;
b. Response times are excluded from the calculation for those periods of time when the Company is experiencing an outage
that qualifies as a Major Event Day (MED) in ldaho, as defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
(IEEE) Guide for Electric Power Distribution Reliability Indices, Standard 1366. This includes the 24-hour period following
a Major Event Day.
c. An "electric system emergency" is defined as an event involving police/fire departrnents, arcing/flashing wires down, or a
feeder lockout.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 13
Average time from customer call to the arrival
of Avista's field technicians in response to
electric system emergencies
65 Minutes
or Less 48.6 Minutes ,/
Avista's Response Time for Electric
llmergencies
Service
Quality
2020
Performance Achieved
Measure 5: Avista's Response Time for Natural Gas Emersencies
As part of Avista's Service Quality Measures program, tlte average response time
to a natural gas system emergency will not exceed 55 minutesfor the year.Io
When customers call Avista to report a natural gas emergency, the Company works with the
customer to quickly ascertain whether the presence of natural gas (via odor or some other
characteristic) is likely coming from inside the customer's home or business or from facilities
located outside. If inside, the customer is instructed to immediately evacuate the building to a safe
distance and await the arrival of onergancy responders. If the leak is in facilities outside,
instructions to the customer are based on the proximity and type of the leak to their (or others')
home or business. Once the nature of the issue has been determined and the customer has been
glven precautionary instructions on how best to ensure their own safety and that of others until
help arrives, the Company immediately begins the dispatch of service personnel best situated to
respond at the scene in the shortest time possible. At the scene, Avista's first priority is to make
the situation safe for our customers, citizens, other emergency responders, and our employees.
Restoration of the problem can begin once the safety of the site is secured and needed resources
arrive at the scene.
The Company's ability to respond quickly to a natural gas emergency is inlluenced by many
factors, some of which include the urban or rural locale, the location of the nearest available
respondent (especially in rural areas), the time of day, season of the year, weather conditions,
traffic, and the presence of other simultaneous emergency events across the systern. Natural gas
emergencies differ from electric emergencies, however, in that the risk of a potential consequence
to a natural gas leak can increase with the passage of time as leaking nafural gas may accumulate
at the site. For this reason, Avista's work practices and staffing levels aim to provide an average
response time of 55 minutes or less. For this measure, the response time to a natural gas emergency
is the elapsed time between the confirmation of the emergency with the customer (when the
dispatch field order is given) and when the Avista service person arrives at the scene.
2020 Results - The average response time for the year is calculated by dividing the sum of all
applicable natural gas emergency response times by the total number of qualiffing emergency
incidents. Avista received 2,133 qualifuing natural gas emergency reports in its Idaho service area
l0 The Company's average response time to a natural gas system emergency in Idaho will not exceed 55 minutes for the calendar
year, where:
a. Response time is measured from the time of the customer call to the arrival of a field service technician; and
b. A "natural gas system emergency" is defined as an event involving a natural gas explosion or fire, a fire in the vicinity of
natural gas facilities, policdfire deparfrnents, Ieaks identified in the field as "Grade 1", high or low gas pressure problems
identified by alarms or customer calls, natural gas system emergency alarms, or calls regarding carbon monoxide, natural
gas odor, runaway fumace, or delayed ignition.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 14
IV. Electric System Retiability
Providing safe and highly reliable electric service for our customers at a reasonable cost is
fundamental to our business. We believe our current level of reliability is reasonable, acceptable
and cost effective for our customers, and our long-term objective is to generally uphold our current
levels of electric system reliability. Achieving this requires an ongoing effort to balance the many
investnent and other priority needs across our system for today and with implications that project
far into the future. As already explained, we monitor and track various aspects of the reliability
performance of our system each year, relying on industry-standard measures (or indices). Two of
the most-commonly reported measures are very-briefly described below, and are discussed in
greater detail in Appendix B. For its Service Quality Measures Program, Avista reports its annual
reliability results in the context of its historic five-year rolling average for these two measures:
{ Number of Outages - known technically as the System Averase Interruption Frequencv
Index or .'Sr!IE[," is the average number of sustained intemrptions (outages) per customer
for the year.
r' Outage Duration - known technically as the Svstem Averaee Interruption Duration Index
or ".UIDL" is the average duration of sustained intemrptions (outages) per customer for
the year.
Many factors influence the number and duration of outages on any electric system. Some of these
include the average age of the systern, its engineering design, construction standards, general
condition, the extent of the system that is rural, terrain, utility equipment and staffing levels, and
its day-to-day operation. The type and proximity of surrounding vegetation and local and regional
weather patterns, including variability in weather, can have a pronounced impact on system
reliability. Because the frequency and duration of the electric system outages that result from these
factors can vary substantially from year to year, there is, naturally, a lot of variability in the annual
measures of system reliability over time.
For Avista, weather-related outages tend to have a predominant impact on the reliability of our
system. This is because individual weather events often impact large portions of our system and
can result in damage to many types of facilities. Weather caused outages, particularly from high
winds, ice, and snow can also require substantial effort and time to restore. These storm events can
result in many customers without service for an extended period of time. Because the impact of
weather events on system reliability is common to all electric systems, the industry has adopted
standardized adjustments that remove outages related to weather events of a certain maenitude
from the calculation of results for outage frequency and duration. This threshold level of severity
is referred to as a Major Event Day or ("MED"). The outages caused by any storm event that
qualifies as a MED are removed from the data used to calculate the utility's annual reliability
results. For Avista, the impact of these major storm events is clearly evident in the substantial
system outages caused by windstorms in the late sunmer of 2014, and the very significant
windstorm event of November 2015. By contrast, in 2016, the Company did not experience any
storm events that constituted major event days, and since that time have experienced a fairly
limited number of major events each year, including 2020. Although the year-to-year variability
in outage duration is substantially reduced by the adjusfrnent for major events, there can still be a
substantial weather impact on the reliability results we report each year. This is the result of storms
that, while not qualifring as major events, still result in substantial system outages.
The important point of this discussion is that the reliability results for any single year, considered
in isolation, do not provide a meaningful measure of the overall reliability of the utility's system,
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 16
or an assessment of whether the performance that year was "acceptable" or "unacceptable". The
reliability performance of our system (or any utility system) should be evaluated over the long
term as the basis for evaluating whether our reliability is trending stably, improving, or
degrading.ll Avista has agreed to report its annual reliability results to its customers in the context
of its historic five-year rolling average. This approach helps our customers better understand how
each year's reliability results fit into our long-term hend in overall system reliability.
Measure 1: Number of Electric Svstem
As part of Avista's Service Quality Measures program, the Company will report its
annual electric system reliability measure for the number of non-major storm ponter
outages experienced per customerfor the year (SAIFD.I2
2020 Results - This measure, as noted earlier, represents how often on average an Avista elecfric
customer experienced a sustainedl3 service outage during the year. This measure is calculated by
summing the total number of customer outages recorded for the year, divided by the total number
of customers served by the Company in that year. The 2020 result of 0.89 outages per customer is
well below the average value for the previous five-year period (2015-2019) of 0.97, as well as for
the current five-year period (2016-2020) of 0.94. For 2020, our Idaho-only result was 1.09; while
higher than the syste,m average, this result is an improvement from the 2019 Idaho-only result of
1.16 outages per customer.
Table No. l0 - Number of Electric System Outages.for the Average Avista Customer in 2020
ll This is similar to the approach now used by the Califomia Public Utilities Commission to evaluate electric utilities' system
reliability. In: Aporoaches to Satine Electric Distribution Reliabiliw Standards and Outcomes. pages 130 - 136. The Brattle Group,
Ltd.20t2.
12 The Company will report the frequency of electric system interruptions per Customer for the calordar year, where:
a. The intemrptions are measured as the System Average Intemrption Frequency Index ("SAIFI"), as calculated by IEEE
Std. 1366;
b. The calculation of SAIFI excludes interruptions associated with any MED in Idaho;
c. The report will provide a b,riefdescription ofthe predominant factors influencing the current-year results, the previous
year's system results, and the Company's historic five-year rolling average of SAIFI; and
d. The results will be reported on a system basis forWashington and Idaho as well as for Idaho only.
13 Any service interruption that is greater than five minutes in duration.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Qualrty Program Report 17
Number of sustained intemrptions in
electric service for the average Avista
customer for the year (SAIFI)
0.89
Per Customer
0.94
Per Customer
-0.03
Per Customer
Number of [.]lectric Svstcnr
Outages for the Averagc Avista
('ustomcr
2020
S1'stem
Ilcsu lts
(-urrent
5 \'car Al'cragc
(2016-20201
Clrangc in
5 \'car
Average
Measure 2: Average Duration of Electric Svstem Outases
As part of Avisto's Service QuaW Measures program, the Company will report
its annual electric system reliability measure for the total duration of non-major
storm power outages experienced per customerfor the year (SAIDD.I4
2020 Results - This measure, as noted earlier, represents the average duration or length of outages
for the year. Outage duration (SAIDD is calculated by summing all of the customer outage time
occurring in the year, divided by the total number of customers served by the utility in that year.
On a system-wide basis, the2020 outage duration decreased to 132 minutes, 5 minutes lower than
the l37-minute duration reported for 2019. As shown in Table No. I 1 below, this decrease resulted
in a 9-minute reduction to the average for the current five-year period (2016-2020). The Idaho-
only outage duration was 159.30 minutes for 2020, which though higher than the same year's
system-wide average of 142 minutes, is below the prior year's duration of 166 minutes in 2019.
Table No. I I - Outage Durationfor the Average Avista Customer in 2020
la The Company will report the duration of electric system interruptions per Customer for the calendar year, where:
a. The intemrption duration is measured as the System Average Intemrption Duration Index ('SAIDI"), as defined by the
IEEEStd. 1366;
b. The calculation of SAIDI excludes intemrptions associated with any MED in Idaho;
c. The report will provide a brief description of the predominant factors influencing the current-year systern results, the
previous year's system results, and the Company's historic five-year rolling average of SAIDI;
d. The results will be reported on a system basis for Washington and Idaho as well as for Idaho only.
Avista Utilities -2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 18
132
Minutes
t5l
Minutes
Total duration of all elechic service
outages for the average Avista
customer for the year (SAIDI)
-9 Minutes
'l-otal C)utage Duration for thc
Average Avista Custonrer
2020
Sl stcnr
Itcsults
Cu rrcnt
5 \'car Ar cragc
Changc in
5 \'ear
2016-2020)A
f;
V. Customer Service Guarantees
Avista's Idaho Service Quality Program includes seven types of service for which Avista provides
"Customer Service Guarantees" (Guarantees). Our service commitments under these Guarantees
recognize the customer inconvenience that may result when our delivered service does not meet
our stated goal. ln such cases, we will provide our customers a bill credit or payment in the amount
of $50 in recognition of that inconvenience. All costs associated with the payment of customer
service guarantees are paid by the Avista's shareholders, and are not paid by our customers, or
included in the rates they pay for service. This 2020 Idaho Service Quality Report is the second
Report to contain the results of Avista's Guarantees.
Guarantee 1: Keeping Electric and Natural Gas Service Aonointments
The Company will keep mutually agreed upon appointments for electric or
natural gas service, scheduled in the time windows of either 8:00 o.m. - 12:00
p,m. or 12:00 p.m, - 5:00 p.m.Is
Avista provides its customers with appointments for certain types of electric and natural gas
service requests. For electric service, the Company will schedule appointments for service drops
or disconnects. For all other electric service work, the customer does not need to be present for the
Company to perform the required work (i.e., check meter, meter test, voltage check, etc.). For
natural gas service, the Company provides appointments for dealer-requested service, meter
exchange and tests, meter unlock, no-heat inspections, reconnects, relighting of Avista repairs, and
repeated pilot light outages on natural gas appliances. The Company offers more types of natural
gas service appointments (than electric service) because the customer must be present for our
employees to complete the work as they must enter the customer's home. If the requested date
and/or time of the service request is unavailable, the Company will still do its best to accommodate
the customer's request but will not commit to a specific time that an employee will arrive to work
on the service request. Often times this practice results in better customer satisfaction as the
Company makes every effort to accommodate a customer's request on that day, rather than
15 Except in the following instances:
a. When the Customer or Applicant cancels the appointment;
b. The Customer or Applicant fails to keep the appointment; or
c. The Company reschedules the appointment with at lear,t 24 hours' notice; or
d. The Company is experiorcing a MED in Idaho. In such cases, the Company will noti$ the customer and reschedule the
appointment. (electric service only)
1'hc Conrpanv rlct 99.95(lt, of rlur irpplicablc scrvicc conrn-ritnrcnls in thc sccond
1'earol'this prograrn. proricling olrr cllstol'ners a slrarautcc crcdit in jLrst l0 ttut o1
39.(r57 cascs.
Avista Utilities - 2020 Idaho Service Qualrty Program Report l9
schedule the work on a future date. Finally, new service connects and credit reconnects are not
available for appoinfrnents, as the work orders are completed the same day of the request.
2020 Results - In 2020, the Company successfully kept 99.75% of its 1,203 scheduled customer
appointments for applicable electric and natural gas service in Idaho and paid a guarantee credit in
only three instances for the year. The primary reason for the missed appointments is emergency
work orders that arise during the day, which prevent the Company from meeting its scheduled
appointment time. Due to the risks and danger of electric and natural gas onergencies, the
Company prioritizes emergency orders over all service work. The result of this necessary
prioritization is that the Company will occasionally miss a few appoinfinents, as reflected in the
2020 results.
Table No. I22 - Avista Service Appointment Results.for 2020
Guarantee 2: Prompt Restoration of Electric Svstem Outase
When our Customers experience an electric interuuptton, the Company will
restore the service within 24 hours of notiftcation from the Customer.l6
The Company strives to restore power to its customers as quickly as possible, while maintaining
the safety of our employees, customers, and the public as our top priority. Electric system outages
can be complex and occur all hours of the day and night, and all days of the year. In many years,
even in cases where Avista does not experience any storms that qualifr as major events, it may
still be impossible for us to restore service to all our customers within 24 hours. In other years, by
contrast, the Company is able to successfully restore service to all of our customers who experience
an outage within this benchm ark of 24 hours. For the 2020 Program year, we did not provide any
Guarantee credits to customers, as we successfully restored service to all impacted customers
within the benchmark timeframe.
2020 Results - In 2020, the Company's Idaho customers experienced2T,TTl outage events in
total, all of which had power restored within 24 hours, resulting in a success rate of 100%. In
comparison to 2019's 99.99% success rate, resulting from I of 18,774 outage events missing the
24houlr benchmark, Avista is proud to see that despite an increase in the number of outage events,
the Company was able to improve upon its success rate in restoring power to its customers within
24 hours.
16 Except for the following instances:
a. During periods of time when the outage is associated with a MED in ldaho;
b. An action or event that is outside the control of the Company prevented the Company from restoring supply or accessing
the Company's equipment to restore supply;
c. The prernise is vacant, disconnected or not receiving service immediately preceding the outage; or
d. The customer notifies the Company that service restoration does not require immediate attention.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 20
Keeping Our Electric and Natural Gas
Service Appointments scheduled with our
customers
1,200 3 $1s0
Customer Service Guarantec Successful l\{ issed $ Paid
Restore service within 24 hours of a
customer reporting an outage (excluding
major storm events)
27,771 0 $0
Customer Service Guarantee l\{ isscd $ PaidSuccessful
Table No. 133 - Avista's Outage Restoration Results.for 2020
Guarantee 3: Promptly Turning on Eleetric or Natural Gas Service Upon Reouest
The Company will turn on power or connect natural gas service the same day the
Customer or Applicant's requests service.IT
When customers request electric or natural gas service from Avista, they have a reasonable
expectation their service will be turned on as quickly as possible, or promptly on a future date they
request. The Company strives to meet these customer expectations by all reasonable means.
Typically, the electric or natural gas meter is not shut offbetween customers, so when a customer
moves to a new location the service is already on when they open an account for service at the new
address. In situations where the service is not already on at a customer location, the Company must
send an employee to reconnect the meter.
2020 Results - Avista met its benchmark to turn on our customers' service the same day the
service was requested in 99.89% of cases, missing only two of the 1,874 requests received.
Table No. 144 - Avista Turning on Sen,ice the Same Day for 2020
Guarantee 4: Promotlv Providins Cost mafes fo Crrstomers for New Service
The Company will provide a cost estimate to the Customer or Applicant for new
electric or natural gas supply within 10 business days upon receipt of all the
necessary information from the Custonter or Applicant
When consfucting a new home, the process for providing new electic or natural gas supply can
be complex, and may involve a customer, contractor, electrician, or dealer depending on the nature
17 Except for the following instances:a. The service request is received by the Company after 7:00pm on weekdays, or on a weekend or holiday;b. The Customer requests an alternative future date for service connection;c. The Customer or Applicant is not available at the time of connection (natural gas service only)d. Construction is required before the service can be energized or connected;e. The Customer or Applicant does not provide evidence that all required govemment inspections have been satisfied;f. Required payments to the Company have not been received;
C. The service was disconnected for nonpayment or theft/diversion of service;h. The service cannot be turned on due to an outage;i. Electric Service is not connected prior to connecting natural gas service;j. When applicable, water service is not connected prior to connecting natural gas service; ork. An action or event that is outside the control of the Company prevents the Company from connecting service.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 2l
Turn on power within a business day of
receiving the request 1,872 2 $100
Customcr Scrvicc Guarantee Succcssful I\Iissed $ Paitl
of the new service. A request for new electric or nafural gas service is typically routed through our
customer contact center and is assigned to one of our employee Customer Project Coordinators
(CPCs) in our natural gas or electric construction areas. Our CPCs are responsible for discussing
the request with the customer (Applicant), meeting with the customer at the location, designing
the service, and then providing the customer a cost estimate for the required construction. The
Company's goal for completing the cost estimate, for which it offers a Customer Service
Guarantee, is l0 business days.
2020 Results - The Company received 1,462 rqurests for new electric or natural gas service in
2020 and successfully provided cost estimates for each within l0 business days of the request, for
a success rate of 100%. This continues the 100% success rate from 2019.
Table No. I 55 - Avista Providing Custonters a Cost Estimate.for New Sentice in 2020
Guarantee 5:lv Resnondins to Customers' Rill Inouiri
The Company will respond to most billing inquiries at the time of the initial
contact, and for tltose inquires that require further investigation, the con pany
will investigate and respond to the Customer witltin I0 business days.
For a customer, it can be difficult to understand why the amount of their energy bill can vary
sometimes substantially from month to month. Some of these factors include variability in weather,
changes in rates, the result of an estimated bill amount in certain circumstances, and variation in
the number of billing days included in the billing period. When customers have questions about
their bill, Avista's contact center representatives strive to address and resolve all inquiries on the
initial customer contact. Some of the tools our employees have to address such bill inquires (which
are generally related to circumstances when customers feel their bill is too high), include:
/ Review the meter read and usage history to see if the bill is in line with the prior months
or years;
r' Review the number of billing days for the bill in question compared with the norm;
r' Utilize the Company's bill analyzer tool, which is also available to customers on Avista's
website, for a comparison of weather, average usage, and rates;/ Discuss with the customer any life changes, new appliances, or maintenance needs and
how those can impact their utility bill;{ Otrer tips on ways to save energy;
r' Directthe customer to Avista's website for additional energy savings advice; and,r' Offer to mail Energy Use and Savings Guides or Energy Savings kits.
When the contact center representative is unable to address the billing inquiry on initial contact or
the customer is not satisfied with the information provided on their inquiry, the Company will then
open a case to firther investigate the customer's inquiry. After a case has been created Avista will
verifu the meter read or obtain a new meter read to double-check the accuracy of the metered use.
If there was a billing error the customer representative will initiate sending a corrected bill. After
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 22
r,462 0 $0
Provide a cost estimate for new electric or
natural gas service within l0 business days
of receiving the request
Successful Missed $ PaidCustomcr Service Guarantee
determining the accuracy of the bill, the customer service representative will then discuss the
inquiry again with the customer along with the results of the verification of the meter read or new
meter read. Typically, after this process our customer is satisfied with the resolution. In situations
where the customer is not satisfied and/or requests a meter test to ensure their meter is reading
accurately, it triggers a separate process, which is covered by Customer Service Guarantee number
six below, "Promptly Responding to Customers' Meter Problems."
2020 Results - Of the billing inquires that were not resolved upon the initial customer contact, the
Company successfully investigated and responded within l0 business days to all322 follow-up
inquiries tn2020.
Table No. 166 - Avista Responding to Cuslomer's Bill Inquiries in 2020
Guarantee 6: Promptly Responding to Customers'Meter Problems
The Company will investigate Customer-reported problems with a meter, or
conduct a nrcter test, and report the results to the Customer within 20 basiness
days.
Commission rules, concurrently with Avista's tariff Schedule 170 for natural gas service, govern
the utility's requirement for meter testing. Avista has naturally complied with these requirements
prior to the implementation of its Customer Service Guarantees program. Under the Guarantees
now in place, however, the Company will now provide a $50 credit if it fails to meet this
requirement.
2020 Results - tn 2020, 158 of our Idaho customers reported a meter problern or requested the
Company conduct a meter test. Avista successfully tested and reported the results to all but four
of these customers within 20 business days, for a success rate of 97.40%.
Table No. 177 - Avista Resol,ying Meter Problems in 2020
Investigate and respond to a billing inqury
within 10 business days if unable to answer
a question on first contact
322 0 $0
Customcr Scrvicc Guarantee Su cccssful Nl issed $ Paid
Investigate a reported meter problem or
conduct a meter test and report the results
within 20 business days
154 4 $200
Customcr Service Guarantec Succcssful IVI issed $ Paid
Guarantee 7:
l8 Except for the following instances:
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report
Customers Advance Notice of Scheduled
The Contpany will provide notiJication to the Customer, througlt means normally
used by the Company, at least 24 hours in advance of disconnecting service for
s c he dule d interruptio ns. t I
s
23
Under Avista's Customer Service Guarantees program, the Company will provide a $50 credit for
each customer impacted if the Company fails to provide notice of a scheduled intemrption at least
24 hours of advance. Complying with this notification requirement has always been a complex
process because there are so many areas within the Company involved in the effort. Some of these
include natural gas construction, elecfric operations, customer project coordinators, asset
maintenance program managers, distribution dispatch, service dispatch, and the customer contact
center. This complexity requires us to maintain multiple checkpoints in our business processes to
ensure all customers affected by a scheduled intemrption are notified in advance.
2020 Results - A total of 6,867 Idaho customers were affected by scheduled service intemrptions
in2020. Of that total, Avista successfully notified 6,856 customers for a success rate of 99.84%.
For the 1l customers that did not appropriately receive our required advance notification, the
Company provided a $50 credit, for a total of $550. Compared to the 99.96% success rate in 2019,
with only 5 customers not properly notified out of a total of 14,152,2020's results for this measure
show a marked decrease in success for the Company. Avista understands the importance of this
benchmark and continues to refine and improve its prior notification processes.
Table No. I 8 - Avista's Customers Notified in Advance of o Service Interruption in 2020
a. The interruption is a momentary interruption of less than five minutes in duration;b. The safety of the public or Company personnel or the immine,nt failure of Company equipment is a factor leading to the
intemrption; or
c. The intemrption was due to work on the Customer's meter.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Quality Program Report 24
6,856 1l $ss0
Notiff customers at least 24 hours in
advance of a planned power outage lasting
longer than 5 minutes
Su cccssfu I Nlissccl S PaidCustomcr Scrvicc Guarantec
Appendix A - Service Quality Progra m Report Card
Orstomer Servlce Measures Benchmark 2020 Performance Achleved
Percent of customerc satisfied with our Contact Center services,
based on survev results At least 90%96.5%r'
Percent of customers satisfied with field services, based on survey
results At least 90%963%,/
Percent of calls answered live within 60 seconds by our Contact
Center At least 80%83.4%,/
Average time from customer call to arrival of field technicians in
resDonse to electric svstem emersencies, oer vear
No more than
65 minutes 48.6 r'
Average time from customer call to arrival of field technicians in
resDonse to natural sas svstem emergencies, oer vear
No more than
55 minutes 42 ,/
lD 2020 Service Quali{ Program Results
2020 ldaho Performance Highlights
Avista has once again exceeded all six of its Customer Service Measures and was able to not only maintain but improve upon
many 2019 benchmarks despite the complexities brought on by the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. While the COVID-
19 pandemic introduced unprecedented challenges, such as a wo*-frornhome transition for the majority of Avista
employees, the Company was able to maintain excellence across its home-bound Contact Center employees, with 83.4o/o of
calls answered live within 60 seconds. Avista also successfully met 99.95% of its applicable Customer Service Guarantees in
2020, providing customers a credit in just 20 out of 39,657 cases. Finally, the Company celebrates a LOl%o success rate for
the restoration of service within 24 hours of a customer reporting an outage (excluding major storm events) for all 27,771
outage incidents reported for 2O2O. Avista is committed to pursuing further improvement in each of these areas as we
continue our mission of improving our customers' lives through innovative energy solutions by providing safe, affordable, and
reliable service now and into the future.
Electrlc System Reliablllty
$Year Average
n01e20201 2020 Result Change in
S-Year Averate
Frequency of non-major-storm power interruptions, per year, per
customer (SAlFl)0.94 0.89 -0.03
Leneth of power outages pervear, per customer (SAlDl)142 t32 -9
CJstomer Servlce Guarantees Successfrrl Missed 33 paia
Electric & Natural Gas service aopointments 7,200 3 Srso
Electric outage restoration within 24 hours of notification from
Customer, excl uding ma ior events 27,777 0 5o
Switch on power or connect gas services the same dav of request t,872 2 Sloo
Provide cost estimate for new electric or natural gas supply within
10 business days 1,462 0 So
lnvestigate and respond to billing inquiries with 10 business days 322 0 SO
lnvestigate customer-reported problems with a meter, or conduct a
metertest and report results within 20 business days 154 4 Szoo
Provide notification at least 24 hours in advance of disconnecting
service for scheduled electric interruptions 5,856 11 Ssso
Totals 39.537 20 s1.000
Avista Utilities - 2020Idaho Service Quality Program Report 25
Appendix B - Definitions and Index Calculations
Svstem Averaee Interruotion Frequencv Index (SAIFD: The average number of sustained
interruptions per customer, per year
Thewxrrberof cnstomerswhichhadsustainedintenuotions
Total number of customers served
Ir,
NT
Svstem Averaee Interruption Duration Index (SAIDD: The average sustained outage time per
customer, per year
o
a
a
Outaee duration multiplied bv the customers effected for all szsraized rntarrzprrbzs
Total number of customers served
Ilru,
Nr
Quantities:i: An interruption event;
rr : Restoration timefor each interruption event;T: Total;
IDr : Number of interrupting device events;
Ni: Number of interrupted customersfor each interruption event during the reporting period,
Nr: Total number of customers servedfor the area being indexed;
Maior Event Dav MED): A day in which the daily system SAIDI exceeds a threshold value,
Tueo. For the purposes of calculating daily system SAIDI, any intemrption that spans multiple
calendar days is accrued to the day on which the intemrption began. Statistically, days having a
daily system SAIDI greater than Tupo are days on which the energy delivery system experienced
stresses beyond that normally expected (such as severe weather). Activities that occur on major
event days should be separately analyze,d and reported. The purpose of MED is to allow major
events to be studied separately from daily operation, and in the process, to better reveal trends in
daily operation that would be hidden by the large statistical effect of major events.
Tr*aso is calculated (taken from the IEEE 1366-2003 Standard)
The major event day identification threshold value, Tueo, is calculated at the end of each reporting
period (typically one year) for use during the next reporting period as follows:
a) Collect values of daily SAIDI for five sequential years ending on the last day of the last
complete reporting period. If fewer than five years of historical data are available, use all
available historical data until five years of historical data are available.
b) Only those days that have a SAIDI/Day value will be used to calculate the Trraso (do not
include days that did not have any intemrptions).
c) Take the natural logarithm (ln) of each daily SAIDI value in the data set.
d) Find a (Alpha), the average of the logarithms (also known as the log-average) of the data
set.
Avista Utilities - 2020ldaho Service Qualtty Program Report 26