20150424Compliance Filing.pdf

VROCKY MOUNTAINY(po\ltER
\ A D|VTS|ON OF FACTFTCORP
April23,2015
VA ELECTRONIC FILING
AND OWRNIGHT DELIVERY
Jean D. Jewell
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472W. Washington
Boise,lD 83702
Attention: Jean D. Jewell
Commission Secretary
RE: CASE NO. GNR-U-14-01, ORDER NO. 33229 COMPLIANCE FILING
IN THE MATTER OF AVISTA CORPORATION' IDAHO POWER COMPANY,
AND PACIFICORP DBA ROCKY MOT]NTAIN POWER'S PETITION F'OR AN
EXEMPTTON TO UTILITY CUSTOMER RELATTONS RULES 311(4) AND (s)
Dear Ms. Jewell:
Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp, provides the following information in
compliance with Order No. 33229 (Order) issued February 17,2015. On page 19 of the Order,
the Commission directed the "Utilities to investigate whether procedures or technologies exist
that might enable them to instantaneously receive the customer's payment data, and to relay their
findings to Staff." In response, Rocky Mountain Power provides the following:
Currently, the Company receives hourly memo updates Monday through Friday 6 a.m.
Pacific Time to 9 p.m. Pacific Time from our authorizedpay station vendors alerting the
Company of payments received at the authorized pay stations. These hourly memo files
notate the account and cancel collection actions. The Company implemented this process
over ten years ago, and this technology has proven to be an effective mechanism to
prevent customers from having their services disconnected. The Company analyzed rcal-
time technology for pay station payments previously; however, real-time posting has the
potential to be less stable increasing risk that the Company may not receive an update to
cancel collections actions. In the ten years the Company has used the hourly memo
updates there have been no complaints regarding customer disconnection following a
payment made at a pay-station. Because this has proven to be stable and successful, the
Company does not have plans at this time to move to real-time processing.
Additionally, in the Commission's Findings on page 21 of the Order, the Commission
encouraged "Utilities to explore the options suggested by Mr. Weber and whether they can use
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Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Apil23,2015
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their smart meters to further enhance their customers' experience, and to share their findings
with Staff." In response, Rocky Mountain Power provides the following:
Rocky Mountain Power appreciates the suggestion brought forward by Mr. Weber.
Rocky Mountain Power regularly evaluates meter technology to determine how to gather
meter reads in a safe and cost-effective manner. Smart meter technology and pre-paid
meters are part of the evaluation. At this time Rocky Mountain Power has no immediate
plans to replace our existing meters with smart meters and is therefore not capable of
instituting any type of pre-payment at the meter at this time.
If you have any questions please contact Ted Weston at [phone] or email
ted.weston@pacifi corp. com
Very truly yours,
'JW[_\LLMwK
Vice President, Regulation