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)
20.0 Reference: Project Need
Response:
Information Request (IR) No. 1
Exhibit No. B-1, Tab 3.0, Section 3.2.5, p. 33
Improved Billing Accuracy
20.1 How many billing queries per year are there for Residential customers?
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 35
For 2011, the total number of billing-related calls was approximately 45,500. Of these calls,
approximately 39,500 are estimated to be related to residential inquiries.
Response:
20.1.1 What percentage of the monthly calls to the Contact Centre relate to
residential billing estimated usage?
FortisBC does not track calls specifically related to estimate usage. However, calls are tracked
for more general categories such as Customer Meter Read, Budget Billing, High Bill Inquiries
and Bill Escalations. A proportion of calls within these categories may be attributed to estimated
usage. For 2011, the calls within the above noted 4 categories totalled approximately 6,800. Of
these, approximately 87% or 5,900 calls are estimated to be related to residential billing.
21.0 Reference: Project Need
Response:
Exhibit No. B-1, Tab 3.0, Section 3.2.5, pp. 33-34
Consolidated Billing for Multiple Customer Locations
21.1 How many customers have requested to receive consolidated bills?
FortisBC does not keep records of consolidated bill requests. However, FortisBC does receive
requests and can occasionally accommodate them (provided that the meters for each service
being consolidated are read on the same meter reading route). FortisBC contact centre
personnel estimate that 20-30 customers per month inquire regarding consolidated billing and
cannot be accommodated.