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

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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
98.0 Reference: Project Costs and Benefits
Response:
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 234
Exhibit B-3, Excel Document: “FortisBC – AMI Excel NPV Analysis –
17Aug12”
Sensitivity Analysis
98.1 Outside of those already provided, please provide copies of any sensitivity
analyses prepared by FortisBC in assessing the AMI project.
All sensitivity analyses have been provided.
Response:
98.2 Other than those already provided, please list and discuss the key assumptions
that were made in preparing the financial analysis of the AMI project in Exhibit B-
3. For each assumption identified, please discuss the alternatives considered
and likelihood of each alternative occurring.
Please refer to the response to BCUC IR1 Q53.8. Any variances to these assumptions that
have been considered (such as the depreciation rate) have already been provided. FortisBC
has not considered the likelihood of different assumptions from those provided.
99.0 Reference: Project Costs and Benefits
Exhibit B-1, Tab 5.0, Section 5.3.6
Exhibit B-2, FortisBC 2008 AMI CPCN
Contact Centre Savings
“A2.4 Readings will be more accurate than the manual process as there is no chance
for human data entry errors. Readings will be transmitted as data directly from the meter
to the billing system virtually eliminating the possibility of misreads and keying errors.
With the more accurate readings and reduced need for billing estimates that will be
provided by AMI, it is estimated that billing related calls to FortisBC’s contact center will
decrease by approximately 25 percent resulting in a reduction of costs associated with
these calls. The cost savings associated with the reduction in calls are expected to be
$169,000 in the first year after implementation. In addition, billing corrections due to
inaccurate readings will be almost completely eliminated. This will result in an additional