FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC) Application for a Certificate of Public ...

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Response:
FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC or the Company)
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project
Response to British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC or the Commission)
Information Request (IR) No. 1
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 18
customer satisfaction since they will be able to get detailed information about the
quantity and timing of their energy consumption.
High bill inquiries are one of the highest-volume billing inquiries that FortisBC receives in the
winter months (from January-April 2012, high bill inquiries were the third most frequent billing
inquiry after account balance and account updates). This is consistent with the experience of
other utilities. As noted in the Application, Appendix F-1 – AMI-SEC System Security
Requirements, p 105:
B.5.1.2 Customer Dispute Management
The most frequent customer dispute is a high bill. They complain about the meter
reading being wrong. In truth there are enough meter reading errors that high
bills are a fact of life. But the ability to check the current meter reading directly
from the meter while the customer is on the phone and re-calculate the bill if the
bill was high, and to end the post call investigation, by being able to directly
validate the customer dispute reduces the time to clear a complaint that is
nonphone time and it reduces the call handling time of the life of the dispute. It is
not unusual that the initial call time goes up, since the CSR has to explain how
they are getting the information and may have to have the customer walk to the
meter while on the phone and verify the numbers that show on the meter. This
has reduced monthly disputes with chronic callers over a period of 3 to 6 months
in most utilities that have this ability.
It is difficult to predict the impact on customer satisfaction of having accurate and frequent meter
readings readily available to customers. However to the extent that the availability of such
information addresses customer concerns related to high bills and estimated bills, it is probable
that customer satisfaction will improve. The use of bill estimates is the unavoidable result of the
current manual meter reading process, and drives many of the complaints received. As well,
the current high bill process also suffers from a lack of data to assist customers with identifying
when their consumption increases and how increases may relate to temperature. This gap is
addressed with AMI.
As suggested in the AMI-SEC report and in Exhibit B-1, Tab 5, p96, ll 11-16, over time there
may be a reduction in calls associated with high bills. This benefit cannot be quantified but the
Appendix F-1 from the Application indicates it is the experience of other utilities.
8.1.1 Provide the estimated amount of this benefit in dollars.