OAR 860-021-0408: Arrearage and Disconnection Reporting Rule

(1) As used in this rule: (a) "Administrative costs" means all incremental expenses related to the management and operation of the bill discount program. This includes, but is not limited to, incremental costs for program design, staff salaries, data processing, customer outreach, eligibility verification, compliance, reporting, and any other overhead or indirect costs necessary to administer the program. (b) "Applied credits" means the aggregate dollar value of discounts applied to the utility bills of residential customers that participate in the utility's bill discount program. (c) "Arrearage balance" means any amount of money that a customer owes to the utility company for services provided which remain unpaid past the bill issuance date. (d) "Average bill discount program participant usage" means the average monthly usage of residential customers enrolled in a utility-administered bill discount program. (e) "Average bill of high-usage customer" means the average monthly dollar amount the utility billed all high-usage customers. (f) "Average residential bill" means the average monthly bill for residential utility services within a utility's Oregon service territory. (g) "Average residential usage" means the average monthly amount of energy billed per residential meter within a utility's Oregon service territory. (h) "Average usage of high-usage customers" means the average monthly energy consumption of all customers classified as high usage. (i) "Days in Arrears" means the number of days from the original bill issuance date a customer's arrearage balance remains unpaid. Days in arrears are divided into three categories: (A) "31-69 days in arrears" means a customer's arrearage balance has been unpaid for a period of between 31 and 60 days from the original bill issuance date. (B) "61-90 days in arrears" means a customer's arrearage balance has been unpaid for a period of between 61 and 90 days from the original bill issuance date. (C) "91+ days in arrears" means a customer's arrearage balance has been unpaid for a period greater than 90 days from the original bill issuance date. (j) "Disconnection notice" means any written or electronic notification issued by a utility to a customer in accordance with OAR 860-021-0405. (k) "Disenrollments" means active residential customer who were enrolled in a utility's bill discount program as of the previous reporting period but are no longer participating as of the current reporting period. This includes customers who were removed from the program due to ineligibility or non-compliance. (l) “Energy assistance recipient” means a residential customer who has received bill payment assistance with an energy bill from any federal, state, customer-funded bill payment assistance fund or program at least once within the past 12 months. (m) "High-usage customer" means a residential customer participating in a utility-administered bill discount program whose energy consumption places them in the 90th percentile or above of all other bill discount program participants within the utility's service area. (n) "New enrollments" means residential customer enrolled in a utility's bill discount program for the first time within the current calendar year. (o) "Post-discount average bill discount program participant bill" means the average monthly utility bill amount for bill discount program participants after the application of their respective bill discount. (p) "Pre-discount average bill discount program participant bill" means the average monthly utility bill amount for bill discount program participants before the application of any bill discounts. (q) "Residential customer" means any individual or household that receives utility services for personal, non-commercial use. This includes all customers being served on a utility's residential service tariff. (r) "Service disconnection for non-payment" means instances where utility service to a residential account was terminated due the customer's failure to pay their utility bill. (s) "Total arrears balance of bill discount program participants" means the total dollar amount of outstanding balances owed by residential customers enrolled in a utility-administered bill discount program on their utility bills. (t) "Total arrears balance of high-usage customers" means the cumulative dollar amount of overdue balances of all high-usage customers in arrears during the reporting period. (u) "Total bill discount program costs" means the total expenditure incurred by a utility in administering its bill discount program for income-qualified residential customers. (v) "Total dollars provided to bill discount program participants" means the aggregate dollar value of discounts applied to the utility bills of residential customer who participate in the utility's bill discount program. (w) "Total residential arrearage balances" means the total dollar amount of outstanding balances owed by residential customers on their utility bills. (x) "Total residential usage" means the total amount of energy billed for all residential customers within a utility's Oregon service territory. (2) Each energy utility must submit electronic quarterly report containing the data described in section (4) of this rule. Electronic reports must be submitted in text-searchable Excel and PDF formats. Utilities shall include zip-code level data within the accompanying Excel files. (a) For quarterly reporting purposes, the following four time periods apply: January 1 to March 31, April 1 to June 30, July 1 to September 30, and October 1 to December 31. (b) Each energy utility must file its initial quarterly report following the first full quarter after the effective date of this rule, unless an alternative initial reporting date is set for the utility by Commission Staff. (c) The energy utility must file a quarterly report as required under this rule within 45 days of the end of each reporting period. (3) If errors or omissions are discovered after a report has been submitted, utilities must submit a revised report within 30 days of identifying the discrepancy. (4) The quarterly report must provide the following data points for each month within the quarter on an Oregon basis: (a) Total number of residential customers with arrearage balances segmented into three groups: 31-60 days in arrears, 61-90 days in arrears, and 91+days in arrears. Each residential customer should only be counted in one group, based on their oldest arrearage balance; (b) Total residential arrearage balances segmented into three groups: 31-60 days in arrears, 61-90 days in arrears, and 91+ days in arrears; (c) Total number of customers enrolled in Time Payment Arrangements (TPA) or other extended payment plans. This includes all residential customer who are actively enrolled in a TPA or any other extended payment plan offered by the utility as of the reporting period; (d) Number of active residential accounts; (e) Number of service disconnections for non-payment; (f) Total number of disconnection notices sent to residential customers; (g) Percentage of accounts with service disconnections for non-payment. This includes the proportion of active residential accounts that experienced a service disconnection for non-payment during the reporting period. This percentage id determined by dividing the total number of service disconnections for non-payment by the total number of active residential accounts and multiplying by 100; (h) Total number of bill discount recipient service disconnections for non-payment; (i) Total number of service disconnections for non-payment on energy assistance recipient accounts; (j) Total number of service disconnections for non-payment on medical certificate holder accounts; (k) Number of service reconnections following a disconnection for non-payment on the same day or next calendar day following disconnection (Days 0-1), and; (l) Number of service reconnections following a disconnection for non-payment that occur more than one day and within 7 calendar days following disconnection (Days 2-7); (m) Number of days on which the energy utility was required to impose a moratorium on service disconnection for severe weather per OAR 860-021-0407 (Severe Weather Moratorium on Involuntary Disconnection of Residential Electric or Gas Utility Service); (n) Total residential usage during the reporting period; (o) Average residential usage during the reporting period. This data point should be calculated by dividing the total residential usage by the total number of residential customers billed during the same reporting period; (p) Average residential bill during the reporting period. This data point should be calculated by dividing the total amount billed to all residential customers by the total number of residential customers billed during the same reporting period. (q) Total number of residential customers that received a bill discount, by discount tier; (r) Total dollars provided to bill discount program participants, by discount tier; (s) Total bill discount program costs divided into two distinct categories: incremental administrative costs and applied credits; (t) Total number of new enrollments; (u) Total number of disenrollments; (v) Average bill discount program participant usage categorized by bill discount tier; (w) Pre-discount average bill discount program participant bill, categorized by bill discount by tier; (x) Post-discount average bill discount program participant bill, categorized by bill discount by tier; (y) The number of bill discount program participants with an arrearage balance segmented into three groups based on the age of the arrearage: 31-60 days in arrears, 61-90 days in arrears, and 91+ days in arrears. Each program participant should only be counted in one group, based on their oldest arrearage balance, and (z) Total arrears balance of bill discount program participants segmented into three groups: 31-60 days in arrears, 61-90 days in arrears, and 91+ days in arrears. (5) For annual reporting purposes, the following time period applies: January 1 to December 31. (6) The energy utility must file an annual report as required under this rule within 60 days of the end of each reporting period. (7) Each utility, in addition to the quarterly reporting requirements, shall submit an annual supplement report which provides the following information for each month within the year: (a) The number of high-usage customers; (b) Average usage of high-usage customers; (c) Average bill of high-usage customers; (d) Number of high-usage customers with an arrearage balance at the end of each month, segmented into three groups: 31-60 days in arrears, 61-90 days in arrears, and 91+ days in arrears. Each residential customer should only be counted in one group, based on their oldest arrearage balance; (e) Total arrears balance of high-usage customers at the end of each month, segmented into three groups: 31-60 days in arrears, 61-90 days in arrears, and 91+ days in arrears; and (f) Total number of high-usage customers who experienced a service disconnection for non-payment. (8) Each utility must provide the information in section (4), subsections (a) - (m), (o) - (r), and (t) - (x) by zip code. (9) The Commission will review the reporting metrics outlined in this rule every two years. In doing so, the Commission may engage stakeholders to ensure the relevance of data for addressing energy burden.