WSR 16-06-038
PERMANENT RULES
UTILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION
COMMISSION
[Docket U-144155, General Order R-586, filed February 23, 2016, 1:24 p.m., effective March 25, 2016]
In the matter of amending and adopting rules in WAC 480-90-178 and 480-100-178, natural gas and electric companies billing requirements and payment date and adding new rules to address billing correction requirements.
1 STATUTORY OR OTHER AUTHORITY: The Washington utilities and transportation commission (commission) takes this action under Notice No. WSR 15-23-102, filed with the code reviser on November 18, 2015. The commission has authority to take this action pursuant to RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.160.
2 STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE: This proceeding complies with the Administrative Procedure Act (chapter 34.05 RCW), the State Register Act (chapter 34.08 RCW), the State Environmental Policy Act of 1971 (chapter 43.21C RCW), and the Regulatory Fairness Act (chapter 19.85 RCW).
3 DATE OF ADOPTION: The commission amends and adopts this rule on the date this order is entered.
4 CONCISE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND EFFECT OF THE RULE: RCW 34.05.325(6) requires the commission to prepare and publish a concise explanatory statement about an adopted rule. The statement must identify the commission's reasons for adopting the rule, describe the differences between the version of the proposed rules published in the register and the rules adopted (other than editing changes), summarize the comments received regarding the proposed rule changes, and state the commission's responses to the comments reflecting the commission's consideration of them.
5 To avoid unnecessary duplication in the record of this docket, the commission designates the discussion in this order, including appendices, as its concise explanatory statement. This order provides a complete but concise explanation of the agency's actions and its reasons for taking those actions.
6 REFERENCE TO AFFECTED RULES: This order amends and adopts the following sections and subsections of the Washington Administrative Code:
Amending WAC 480-90-178 Billing requirements and payment date and 480-100-178 Billing requirements and payment date.
7 PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY AND ACTIONS THEREUNDER: The commission filed a preproposal statement of inquiry (CR-101) on February 18, 2015, at WSR 15-05-082. The statement advised interested persons that the commission was considering entering a rule making to determine if a rule making is necessary to develop a new rule and/or modify existing rules in chapter 480-90 WAC, Gas companies and chapter 480-100 WAC, Electric companies, to address problems with inaccurate energy usage metering, which results in retroactive billing of electric and natural gas customers. The inquiry addressed key concerns of both the companies and commission staff (staff) regarding reducing the length of retroactive bills while recognizing: (1) Equipment breaks; (2) the failure of some customers to notify the company immediately upon moving in; and (3) that companies may not have complete control over how quickly these issues can be identified without significantly increasing costs that would ultimately be borne by all ratepayers.
8 The commission also informed persons of this inquiry by providing notice of the subject and the CR-101 to everyone on the commission's list of persons requesting such information pursuant to RCW 34.05.320(3) and by sending notice to all registered natural gas and electric companies and the commission's list of natural gas and electric company attorneys. Pursuant to the notice, the commission received written comments by the due date of March 23, 2015. The notice also informed the stakeholders of a scheduled stakeholder workshop in this rule making on May 20, 2015, in the Commission's Hearing Room, Richard Hemstad Building, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA.
9 Staff incorporated the comments received from the regulated utilities and made some modifications to the rules. The commission's initial goals in this proceeding were to:
•
Establish standards for regulated energy companies to identify and correct billing errors due to meter failure, meter malfunction, and meters with unidentified energy usage within six months, and
•
Provide incentives for companies to reduce the duration of retroactive bills.
10 The energy companies worked collaboratively on their input and provided a completely revised version of the initial draft rules. As a result of the comments received and after further discussion, the commission decided to expand the rule making to address any situation where energy usage was not billed, or was inaccurately billed. On September 2, 2015, the commission filed a supplemental CR-101 notice at WSR 15-05-082 to consider expanding the rule making to all corrected billing situations. The supplemental CR-101 was filed with the code reviser at WSR 15-18-121 requesting comments by October 5, 2015.
11 NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING: The commission filed a notice of proposed rule making (CR-102) on November 18, 2015, at WSR 15-23-102. The commission scheduled this matter for oral comment and adoption under that notice at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, January 21, 2016, in the Commission's Hearing Room, Second Floor, Richard Hemstad Building, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA. The notice provided interested persons the opportunity to submit written comments to the commission by December 21, 2015.
12 WRITTEN COMMENTS: The commission received six written comments in response to the WSR 15-23-102 notice from The Energy Project, Cascade Natural Gas Corporation (CNG), Avista Corporation (Avista), Pacific Power & Light (Pacific Power), Puget Sound Energy (PSE), and Northwest Natural Gas (NWNG). A summary of the written comments and the commission's response is contained in Appendix A, shown below, and made part of this order.
13 RULE-MAKING HEARING: The commission considered the proposed rules for adoption at a rule-making hearing on Thursday, January 21, 2016, before Chairman David W. Danner and Commissioner Ann E. Rendahl. The commission heard oral comments from Roger Kouchi, representing commission staff; Shawn Bonfield, representing Avista; Onita King, representing NWNG; Kathie Barnard, representing PSE; Natasha Siores, representing Pacific Power; and Del Herner, representing CNG.
14 SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGE THAT ARE ACCEPTED: Written and oral comments suggested changes to the proposed rules. The suggested changes and the commission's reason for rejecting or accepting the suggested changes are included in Appendix A. The commission expands on its explanation for its actions related to four of those suggested changes and addresses several additional clarifications in the following paragraphs.
15 Exceptions for Issuing a Corrected Bill for Underbilled Amounts. When a utility discovers that it has underbilled a customer for energy usage, proposed WAC 480-90-178 (5)(a) and 480-100-178 (5)(a) prohibit the utility from collecting underbilled amounts for any period greater than six months from the date the error occurred, except as provided in WAC 480-90-178(7) or 480-100-178(7).1 At the adoption hearing and in written comments, regulated companies requested additional exceptions for nonresidential accounts and situations where it is uneconomical to issue a corrected bill. We adopt limited exceptions to the requirement to issue a corrected bill in those specific circumstances, as described below.
1 As proposed, these exceptions include when an underbilling is due to tampering or interference with the utility's property, use of service through an illegal connection, or the fraudulent use of utility service.
1. Nonresidential accounts
16 Both in written comments and at the adoption hearing, PSE and Pacific Power stated that a longer period of time should be allowed for underbilling adjustments for nonresidential customers because of the complexity of nonresidential metering, the large size of some nonresidential customers' bills, and the seasonal nature of some nonresidential customers' usage.2
2 Comments of PSE, at 1-2 (December 21, 2015); Comments of Pacific Power, at 1 (December 21, 2015).
17 According to data requested by staff in the course of this rule making, the number of nonresidential accounts billed in excess of six months is very small, and the total corrected amounts billed to nonresidential customers is nearly equal to the total corrected amounts billed to residential customers. Accordingly, we do not believe that the data supports treating nonresidential customers, as a whole, different than residential customers.
18 We do recognize, however, that there are certain circumstances beyond a utility's control where it may be reasonable to make an exception to the six month requirement for nonresidential customers. Therefore, we adopt a limited exception in WAC 480-90-178(7) and 480-100-178(7) to allow utilities to extend the six month period for issuing corrected bills to nonresidential customers for good cause. Good cause may include circumstances such as the complexity of a specific account, a change in metering configuration, large industrial customer load change, special meter configuration involving current transformers, or wiring reconfigurations by the customer. In circumstances where a utility decides to rely on this exception, it must report to the commission within sixty days a summary of its reasons for making an adjustment in excess of six months.
2. Situations where it is uneconomical to issue a corrected bill
19 NWNG and Avista suggested that the commission consider adopting a threshold amount for which a utility would be required to issue a corrected bill for underbilling. Avista requested that the rule allow, rather than require, a utility to issue a corrected bill for underbilling.3 According to Avista, this is consistent with Oregon's requirements.4 We disagree with this approach. Washington law stipulates that energy companies are prohibited from charging similarly situated customers different rates for the same service.5 Absent a specific standard for when the utility may choose not to issue a corrected bill for underbilling, we are concerned that a permissive provision could be construed as allowing discriminatory or preferential treatment.
3 Comments of NWNG, at 3 (December 18, 2015).
4 Comments of Avista, at 2 (December 21, 2015).
5 See RCW 80.28.100.
20 Alternatively, Avista and NWNG suggest that the rule allow a utility not to issue a corrected bill for underbilling when it is uneconomical to do so, or when the bill is below a certain dollar threshold.6 This argument is based on the companies' practice of spreading fixed costs associated with customer billing across all customers. At a certain dollar threshold, utilities argue that it may be more cost-effective for all customers to absorb the underbilled amount rather than to require the utility to issue a corrected bill.
6 Comments of Shawn Bonfield, on behalf of Avista, and Onita King, on behalf of NWNG. (January 21, 2016, Adoption Hearing).
21 We acknowledge that it is not reasonable to require utilities to incur additional costs to issue a corrected bill when it is uneconomical to do so. However, adoption of the proposed "uneconomical" standard concerns us for the same reason the proposed flexible and permissive language does, i.e., the standard could be interpreted differently by different utilities, or applied differently across customer classes. It could also vary based on factors such as weather, fuel costs, labor costs, and even postage rates. Ultimately, we are concerned that adopting this standard would increase the administrative burden to both the utility and commission staff, who must determine whether a corrected bill should or should not be issued under the rule. We also lack sufficient evidence in the record of this rule making to distinguish the point at which it may become uneconomical for a utility to issue a corrected bill for an underbilled account.
22 Accordingly, we believe it is appropriate to adopt a dollar amount under which a utility may choose not to issue a corrected bill, and set the threshold at $50. Adopting a $50 threshold removes the uncertainty associated with the "uneconomical" standard and the need for any additional analysis at the time a corrected bill is issued. It meets the utilities' need for increased flexibility while ensuring that the same standard is applied to all customers to avoid preferential or discriminatory treatment.
23 Requirement to Develop and Maintain Procedures. As proposed, WAC 480-90-178 (5)(c) and 480-100-178 (5)(c) require utilities to develop and maintain procedures to establish practices for the prompt identification, repair, and replacement of meters that are not functioning correctly, and for identification of unassigned energy usage meters. This subsection also requires utilities to file a plan outlining their procedures with the commission by May 1, 2016, and file a new plan with the commission within thirty days from the date of any addition or change to those procedures.
24 NWNG requests that this section be eliminated entirely.7 Pacific Power and PSE request to remove the requirement to file a plan with the commission.8 The companies argue that this requirement is administratively burdensome and of questionable value. The companies further argue that this requirement imposes an unnecessary degree of oversight, and that the commission can obtain this information as needed through other means.
7 Comments of NWNG, at 6 (December 18, 2015).
8 Comments of Pacific Power, at 2 (December 21, 2015).
25 We decline to eliminate subsection (5)(c) in its entirety. This subsection contains important requirements for utilities to develop and maintain procedures and practices to mitigate the number of underbilling occurrences that exceed six months in duration. The criteria included in subsections (5)(c)(i), (ii), and (iii) describe elements of good utility practice that we believe are reasonable expectations for prudent utility operations under the rule. We do, however, agree that it is unnecessary for the utilities to file a plan with the commission describing their procedures for complying with the commission's rule, and we remove this requirement. We expect that commission staff will review companies' procedures for compliance with this subsection at some point after the rule's adoption, and recognize that staff, at any time, may request information from a regulated company about its policies and procedures for identifying and correcting billing errors.
26 Information Provided on Corrected Bills. WAC 480-90-178(6) and 480-100-178(6) require utilities to provide certain information on a corrected bill, bill insert, letter, or any combination thereof. Avista objects to subsection (6)(e), which requires the utility to include information about the actions taken to resolve the cause of the bill correction.9 Avista argues that its ability to include added messaging on a bill is limited, so the rule should not require more information than is necessary.
9 Comments of Avista, at 2-3 (December 21, 2015).
27 The purpose of this subsection is to ensure that the customer understands that they have received a corrected bill and the reasons for the correction. We agree with the company that the rule should not require more information than necessary to achieve that end. Other sections of the rule require utilities to have procedures in place to remedy the causes of certain billing errors. Subsection (6)(a) also requires the utility to explain the reason for the bill correction. In light of these factors, we believe it is reasonable for a customer to assume that receipt of a corrected bill means the underlying issue has been resolved. Accordingly, we agree that it is not necessary for the utility to provide a description of the actions taken to resolve the cause of the bill correction, and remove subsection (6)(e).
28 Conflict with Complaint Meter Test Rule, WAC 480-90-183(5) and 480-100-183(5). As proposed, WAC 480-90-183(5) and 480-100-183(5) require a utility, upon confirmation of a metering error, to adjust a customer's bill for proper usage from the date the error occurred. In the event the date of the error cannot be identified, the utility must adjust the customer's bill for proper usage for a period not to exceed six months. Subsection (5) of the proposed rule provides that a utility cannot, in any circumstances, adjust a customer's bill for underbilled amounts for a period longer than six months.
29 Pacific Power expressed concerns that the proposed rule conflicts with WAC 480-90-183(5) and 480-100-183(5).10 NWNG also raised this issue at the adoption hearing.11 The companies argue that if a utility discovers a meter error through a customer-requested meter test and determines the customer was underbilled for twelve months, WAC 480-100-183 (5)(a) would require the utility to adjust the customer's bill for the full twelve month period. However, if the same meter error was discovered by the utility, the adjustment would be limited to six months.
10 Comments of Pacific Power, at 2 (December 21, 2015).
11 Comments of Onita King, on behalf of NWNG, at January 21, 2016 adoption hearing.
30 We disagree. WAC 480-90-183 (5)(a) and 480-100-183 [(5)](a) require that, if the utility can identify the date the customer was first billed from a defective meter, the utility must refund or bill the customer for the proper usage from that date forward. Proposed WAC 480-90-178(5) and 480-100-178(5) further clarify that when a utility's investigation finds that it has underbilled energy usage, it may not collect underbilled amounts for any period greater than six months from the date the error occurred. In other words, if the date identified in accordance with the complaint meter test rule is more than six months prior to the replacement of the defective meter, then the utility should bill the customer for underbilled amounts as required by the corrected bill rule, that is, for amounts not to exceed six months.
31 If this later proves to be confusing for regulated companies or customers, we will consider initiating a rule making in WAC 480-90-183 and 480-100-183 to further clarify this issue.
32 Other Clarifications of the Rule. Based on comments received following the CR-102, we also make the following changes to the final rules: (1) Removal of references to "billing error"; (2) clarification of rate schedule in effect; (3) application of rule to unassigned energy usage; and (4) application of rule to overbilling. We discuss these clarifying changes below. Other minor changes are discussed in Appendix A.
1. Removal of references to "billing error."
33 Language in proposed WAC 480-90-178 (5)(a) and 480-100-178 (5)(a) required that a utility must issue a corrected bill upon finding that an underbilling or overbilling occurred as a result of a "meter failure, meter malfunction, meter with unassigned energy usage, or other billing error …" (emphasis added). NWNG commented that the phrase "other billing error" implied that meter failures, malfunctions, and unassigned energy usage are billing errors. The company requests that the rule distinguish between a "billing error" and a bill correction necessitated by a mechanical issue with a meter or due to a third party action or inaction (unassigned usage).12 NWNG suggests amending the language to read: "or any situation where energy usage was not billed or was inaccurately billed." We accept this clarifying revision.
12 Comments of NWNG, at 2 (December 18, 2015).
2. Clarification of rate schedule in effect.
34 Subsection (5)(a) of the proposed rules stated that "the utility must use the rate schedule in effect at the time of each affected billing period(s) covered by the corrected bill." NWNG commented that this sentence is overly broad and proposed clarifying language that does not change the intent or effect of the rule.13 We accept NWNG's clarification and revise this subsection to read, "The utility must use the rates and rate schedule in effect during the billing period(s) covered by the corrected bill."
13 Comments of NWNG, at 2 (December 18, 2015).
3. Application of rule to unassigned energy usage.
35 Several companies commented that the proposed rule should not apply to unassigned energy usage. CNG commented that a bill is not issued for meters that have no customer of record for the premise. Since bills are not automatically generated for sites with no active account and no customer of record, the company argued that unassigned energy usage is not a billing error.14 PSE commented that it currently does not investigate unassigned energy usage below a certain usage threshold. PSE argues that its current practice balances fairness, cost, and customer experience.15
14 Comments of CNG, at 1-2 (December 11, 2015).
15 Comments of PSE, at 2-3 (December 21, 2015).
36 We believe that, despite the issues raised by the companies, unassigned energy usage should be easy to detect and correct within six months. Rather than allowing unassigned energy usage to continue beyond six months, we agree with staff that a company should take immediate action to contact the occupant and notify them of their obligation to apply for service. If a customer fails to respond, the company should take timely action to disconnect service to prevent lengthy corrected bills. We further expect companies to address processes to investigate meter usage from unassigned energy usage meters, as required in subsection (5)(c)(iii) of the rule.
37 While we decline to remove unassigned energy usage from the proposed rule, we recognize that it is not a "billing error." As discussed above, we have removed the "billing error" language from the rule, but will continue to include unassigned energy usage as a reason for which a utility must issue a corrected bill.
4. Application of rule to overbilling.
38 The proposed rule did not include language specifying the time period for which a utility must issue a refund for overbilling. Pacific Power requests the rule clarify that the maximum adjustment period utilities are required to adjust bills for overbilling is six years.16 We agree that it is appropriate to specify this in the rule, and we adopt clarifying language in WAC 480-90-178 (5)(a) and 480-100-178 (5)(a).
16 Comments of Pacific Power, at 2 (December 21, 2015).
39 NWNG commented that it did not agree with the six year requirement for customer refunds. The company recommended that the commission consider twenty-four months for refunding overbilled amounts.17 Current commission practice is to allow customers the maximum refund for overbilled amounts allowed by law under RCW 4.16.040, which allows six years for an action upon accounts receivable. We see no reason to change this practice at this time.
17 Comments of NWNG, at 5 (December 21, 2015).
40 COMMISSION ACTION: After considering all of the information regarding this proposal, the commission finds and concludes that it should amend and adopt the rules as proposed in the CR-102 at WSR 15-23-102 with the changes described below.
41 CHANGES FROM PROPOSAL: The commission adopts the proposal with the following changes from the text noticed at WSR 15-23-102:
WAC 480-90-178 (5)(a)
WAC 480-100-178 (5)(a)
First sentence – delete "Upon discovery of an underbilling or overbilling resulting from a meter failure, meter malfunction, meter with unassigned energy usage, or any other billing error, a."
 
Insert "A" before utility.
 
Delete "the customer" after "must issue."
 
Insert "upon finding that an underbilling or overbilling occurred as a result of a meter failure, meter malfunction, meter with unassigned energy usage, or any other situation where energy usage was not billed or was inaccurately billed" after "a corrected bill."
 
Delete "to recover or refund billed amounts" after "inaccurately billed."
 
Second sentence – insert "rates and" before "rate schedule in effect."
 
Delete "at" after "in effect" and replace with "during."
 
Delete "time of each affected billing" before "period" and replace with "billing."
 
Add "(s)" to "period" before "covered by the corrected bill."
 
Fourth sentence – delete "the underbilling or overbilling" at the end of the sentence and replace with "that an account had been under or overbilled."
 
Fifth sentence – delete "However, e" at the beginning of the sentence.
 
Capitalize "Except" at the beginning of the sentence.
 
Delete "for" after "as provided."
 
Add a possessive "'s" to the word "utility" after "when a."
 
Delete "discovers" and replace with "investigation finds" after "when a utility's."
 
Delete "a customer" and replace with "energy usage" after "that it has underbilled."
 
Delete "seek to" after "it may not."
 
Insert "underbilled amounts" after "collect."
 
Add a sixth sentence that states, "The maximum period for which utilities are required to adjust bills for overbilling is six years."
WAC 480-90-178 (5)(b)
Delete "subsection" and replace with "rule."
WAC 480-100-178 (5)(b)
 
WAC 480-90-178 (5)(b)(ii)
WAC 480-100-178 (5)(b)(ii)
First sentence – delete "For the purpose of this rule," at the beginning of the sentence.
 
Insert "An" at the beginning of the sentence.
WAC 480-90-178 (5)(b)(iii)
WAC 480-100-178 (5)(b)(iii)
Delete subsection.
WAC 480-90-178 (5)(c)
WAC 480-100-178 (5)(c)
First sentence – delete "to identify and repair or replace meters not functioning correctly and identify meter usage from" and replace with "that establish practices for the prompt identification, repair and replacement of meters that are not functioning correctly and for identification of" after "must develop and maintain procedures."
 
Second sentence – delete "These" and replace with "The" at the beginning of the sentence.
 
Delete "procedures shall address steps taken to prevent corrected bills for underbilling errors" and replace with "objective of such procedures shall be to mitigate the number of underbilling occurrences" before "that exceed six months in duration."
 
Delete third sentence.
 
Delete fourth sentence.
 
Fifth sentence – delete "The plan must include" and replace with "These procedures must address."
WAC 480-90-178 (5)(c)(i)
WAC 480-100-178 (5)(c)(i)
Delete "Procedures" and replace with "Practices" at the beginning of the sentence.
 
Delete "billing errors resulting from, but not limited to, billing errors" and replace with "the issuance of corrected bills" before "due to incorrect prorated bills."
 
Delete "mislabeled meter bases" and replace with "improperly assigned meters" after "due to incorrect prorated bills."
 
Delete "or" before "incorrect billing multipliers."
 
Insert ", or any other event that may affect billing accuracy" after "incorrect billing multipliers."
WAC 480-90-178 (5)(c)(ii)
WAC 480-100-178 (5)(c)(ii)
Delete "Procedures for investigating meter errors including, but not limited to, those created by stopped, slowed, and erratic usage meters" and replace with "Processes for the investigation of meter issues include, but are not limited to, stopped, slowed, and erratic usage meters."
WAC 480-90-178 (5)(c)(iii)
WAC 480-100-178 (5)(c)(iii)
Delete "Procedures for investigating" and replace with "Processes for the investigation of."
WAC 480-90-178(6)
WAC 480-100-178(6)
First sentence - insert "or bimonthly" after "subsequent monthly."
WAC 480-90-178 (6)(e)
WAC 480-100-178 (6)(e)
Delete subsection.
WAC 480-90-178 (6)(f)
WAC 480-100-178 (6)(f)
Change subsection designation from (f) to (e).
WAC 480-90-178(7)
WAC 480-100-178(7)
First sentence – insert "Exceptions to billing correction rules."
 
Second sentence, insert subsection (a) before "Corrected bills."
 
Delete "issued for the following purposes are exempt from the provisions of subsection (5)(a) of this section: Meter failure or malfunction of billing error related to customer tampering with the utility's property" and replace with "related to an underbilling due to tampering or interfering with the utility's property."
 
Delete "customer fraudulently obtaining service" after "use of the utility's service through an illegal connection, or the" and replace with "fraudulent use of a utility's service, are exempt from the six-month restriction set forth in subsection (5)(a) of this rule."
 
Insert new subsection (b): "Adjustments for underbilling of nonresidential customers will be limited to six months. However, the utility may extend this period for good cause if a longer period is appropriate due to circumstances such as the complexity of certain accounts, changing metering configurations, load changes of large industrial customers, special meter configurations involving current transformers, or wiring reconfigurations by the customer. Utilities must report to the commission within sixty days the reasons for any adjustments longer than six months."
 
Insert new subsection (c): "The utility may choose not to issue a corrected bill to recover underbilled amounts of less than $50.00."
WAC 480-90-178 (7)(b)
WAC 480-100-178 (7)(b)
Change to new subsection WAC 480-90-178(8) and 480-100-178(8).
 
First sentence – delete "billing error" after "a meter failure or malfunction or a" and replace with "situation where energy usage was inaccurately billed."
 
Second sentence – insert "(correction)" after "A bill true-up."
STATEMENT OF ACTION; STATEMENT OF EFFECTIVE DATE: After reviewing the entire record, the commission determines that WAC 480-90-178 and 480-100-178 should be amended and adopted to read as set forth in Appendix B, as rules of the Washington utilities and transportation commission, to take effect pursuant to RCW 34.05.380(2) on the thirty-first day after filing with the code reviser.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, amended 6, repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, amended 2, repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.
ORDER
THE COMMISSION ORDERS:
43 (1) The commission amends and adopts WAC 480-90-178 and 480-100-178 to read as set forth in Appendix B as rules of the Washington utilities and transportation commission, to take effect on the thirty-first day after the date of filing with the code reviser pursuant to RCW 34.05.380(2).
44 (2) This order and the rule set out below, after being recorded in the order register of the Washington utilities and transportation commission, shall be forwarded to the code reviser for filing pursuant to chapters 80.01 and 34.05 RCW and 1-21 WAC
DATED at Olympia, Washington, February 23, 2016.
Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission
David W. Danner, Chairman
Ann E. Rendahl, Commissioner
Appendix A
U-144155
Corrected Billing Issues
Rule-Making Comment Summary Matrix
WAC
480-90-178
480-100-178
Topic
Commenter
Comments
Staff Response
Subsection (5)(a)
Billing errors.
NWNG
The phrase "other billing error" implies that the listed scenarios (meter failure, meter malfunction, meter with unassigned energy usage) for which a corrected bill is required are billing errors. This is not the case. A bill correction necessitated by a mechanical issue with a meter or due to a third party action or inaction (unassigned usage) is not synonymous with a "billing error."
NWNG suggests amending the language to read: "or any situation where energy usage was not billed or was inaccurately billed."
Staff agrees.
Pacific Power
Pacific Power disagrees with staff's recommended six-month adjustment period for underbilling related to billing errors.
Pacific Power proposes to limit underbilling adjustments for billing errors to six months, unless the utility shows good cause why a longer period is necessary due to circumstances beyond the utility's control.
Staff disagrees. Underbilling, whether it is the result of a meter malfunction or other anomaly, results in the issuance of corrected bills that are burdensome for consumers. Establishing reasonable time limits for corrected bills will ensure the regulated energy utilities have a system for promptly identifying and resolving corrected billing issues.
Subsection (5)(a)
Corrected bills
NWNG
The proposed rule states that "The utility must use the rate schedule in effect at the time of each affected billing period(s) covered by the corrected bill." NWNG finds that this sentence is overly broad and suggests the following clarification:
"The utility must use the rates and rate schedule in effect during the billing period(s) covered by the corrected bill."
Staff agrees.
Subsection (5)(a)
Discovery
NWNG
NWNG had previously expressed concern about staff's use of the word "discovers" in this section as it is used to identify the timing of the issuance of a bill correction. Specifically, as written it is unclear if the date of discovery is the point at which a problem is suspected (e.g. the meter technician observes something in the field and removes the meter) or if it is the time that the utility knows for certain that a problem occurred (the meter has been tested and other investigation performed as needed). NWNG suggests the following edits:
"The utility must issue the corrected bill within sixty days from the date the utility confirmed that an account had been under or overbilled."
Staff disagrees. To ensure prompt investigation of an under or overbilled situation, the utility must issue the corrected bill within sixty days of discovery of the under or overbilling situation.
Subsection (5)(a)
Corrected bill amounts
NWNG
NWNG suggests that the new rule provisions provide a threshold at which the utility could decide not to issue a corrected bill. There has been little or no discussion about the time and cost involved in issuing a corrected bill. NWNG suggests the following new language be added:
"The utility may choose to not issue a corrected bill for amounts less than $1.00."
Staff agrees. The companies have not provided evidence that this is a pressing issue (i.e., cost and number of bills involved). However, it does not make sense to require companies to incur additional costs to issue a corrected bill for amounts less than $50.00 when it is uneconomical to do so.
Staff disagrees with Avista's proposal to allow unlimited flexibility in issuing a corrected bill because of the potential problems of being perceived as preferential treatment. However, staff does agree to add the following exception to the rules: The utility may choose not to issue a corrected bill to recover underbilled amounts less than $50.00. Staff believes that there may be instances where adjusting these smaller amounts would be in the public interest due to the cost of issuing a corrected bill and extenuating circumstances that would lend itself to an exception.
Avista
Avista again proposes that the language in the first sentence, "a utility must issue a corrected bill to a customer to recover or refund billed amounts" be modified to read, "a utility may issue a corrected bill to a customer to recover billed amounts and must issue a corrected bill to a customer to refund billed amounts."
This modification gives the utility flexibility to not back bill a customer who has been underbilled.
Subsection (5)(a)
Underbilled amounts for nonresidential customers
NWNG
NWNG does not agree with staff's proposed six month limitation on collecting for underbilled amounts for all customer classes (i.e., nonresidential). The company agrees to disagree. The company stated that should this proposal be adopted, the outcome will be that all ratepayers will absorb some amount of additional cost. NWNG's current practice is to adjust underbilled amounts for up to twelve months.
Staff disagrees. Again, the companies have failed to provide compelling reasons and evidence why nonresidential customers should be excluded from this rule making. In fact, the data shows the number of nonresidential accounts billed in excess of six months is very small, and the total amounts billed on corrected bills to nonresidential customers in excess of six months is similar to the total amounts for residential customers. See below for table showing company comparisons. The amounts reported for nonresidential customers are very small in comparison to the companies' total revenues, and the difference between the impact of corrected bills issued in excess of six months to nonresidential customers and those issues [issued] to residential customers is not significant.
PSE
The nonresidential cases may be fewer in number, but they are drastically more complex to address and require greater flexibility. PSE agrees to disagree with staff's proposed six month limitation on collecting for underbilled amounts for nonresidential meter classes.
However, staff would agree to add an exception which requires nonresidential adjustments for underbilling to be limited to six months, unless the utility shows good cause why a longer period is necessary due to circumstances related to the complexity of specific accounts such as changing metering configuration, load changes of large industrial customers, special meter configurations involving current transformers, and wiring reconfigurations made by the customer. Staff would ask that the utilities provide a report within sixty days of making an exception. The report should summarize each instance where the utility made an exception.
Pacific Power
Pacific Power believes a longer period should be allowed for underbilling adjustments for nonresidential customers. Not only can the complexity of nonresidential metering make it difficult for utilities to identify problems, billing errors could be directly related to the nonresidential customer failing to notify the utility of changes they have made in their operations or wiring.
The company recommended modifying the language to state: Nonresidential adjustments for underbilling will be limited to six months, unless the utility shows good cause why a longer period is necessary due to circumstances beyond the utility's control.
Staff disagrees. Companies always have the latitude to petition the commission for relief addressing rare events. The company did not provide any information regarding the number of times these events occur, the costs involved, and historical data (i.e., three to five years) to substantiate the longer period to recover underbilled amounts for nonresidential customers.
Subsection (5)(a)
Unassigned energy usage (UEU)
PSE
PSE's current practices for addressing UEU are based on a usage threshold, which is a more practical way to balance fairness, cost and positive customer experience. The practical impact of including UEU in the rules will be for PSE to make expensive truck rolls a first resort rather than a last resort to notify or disconnect service for a customer.
Staff disagrees. Unassigned energy usage occurs when there is usage but no assigned customer. The utility sees the usage and knows the address. The company can send a letter to the residence and ask them to contact the company to sign up for service by a certain date. If the customer fails to respond, the company should go out and disconnect service.
Staff continues to believe unassigned energy usage is easy to detect and correct within six months. The company should take immediate action to contact the occupant to apply for service. If a customer fails to respond, the company should take timely action to disconnect service to preclude undue lengthy, corrected bills.
CNGC
A bill is not issued for meters that have no customer of record for the premise. Since bills are not automatically generated for sites with no active account and no customer of record, unassigned energy is not a billing error.
Staff changed the language in subsection (5)(a) to read: "A utility must issue a corrected bill upon finding that an underbilling or overbilling occurred as a result of a meter failure, meter malfunction, meter with unassigned energy usage, or any other situation where energy usage was not billed or was inaccurately billed."
Subsection (5)(a)
Customer references
NWNG
NWNG has concerns with the terms "discovers" and "… that it has underbilled a customer…" in the last sentence in subsection (5)(a). NWNG suggests the following language:
"… when the utility's investigation finds that it has underbilled energy usage, …"
Staff agrees.
Subsection (5)(a)
Overbilled amounts
NWNG
NWNG does not agree with the six year requirement to refund. The company is recommending the commission consider twenty-four months for refunding overbilled amounts.
NWNG does not suggest that the limitation on overbilled refunds should be the same as the six month underbilled limitation. The company recognizes that there is a different dynamic that is associated with a bill correction that is a collection and one that is a refund.
Staff appreciates the company's understanding that there is a different dynamic involved with a bill correction that is a collection and one that is a refund.
Staff believes that customers should be allowed the maximum refund for overbilled amounts allowed by law. RCW 4.16.040 allows six years for an action upon an account receivable.
Pacific Power
Having a specific adjustment period for overbillings plainly defined in the rules eliminates confusion for all parties. Pacific Power recommends the rule state the maximum adjustment period utilities are required to adjust bills for overbilling is six years.
Staff agrees.
Subsection (5)(b)
NWNG
NWNG recommends the following change to the first sentence:
"For the purposes of this rule:"
Staff agrees.
Subsection (5)(c)
Develop and maintain procedures
NWNG
NWNG recommends that this section be eliminated in the entirety. The rule requires the utility to develop and maintain procedures relating to meters and unassigned usage. The rule also requires the utility to file a "plan delineating the procedures."
If the intent is for each utility to simply file a summary of its processes and procedures related to the implementation of these rule provisions, then NWNG could retract its object [objection] to this provision.
Staff uses the term "mislabeled meter bases" in this section in reference to a required procedure. NWNG suggests , at least for purposes of the gas rule, that a more generic term be used as "Improperly assigned meters."
Staff disagrees. The reporting requirements are not overly burdensome. The companies already reported this information in response to a data request as part of this rule making.
The intent is for each utility to file a plan of its processes and procedures related to the implementation of the rule provisions. Again, staff continues to believe the one-time initial report with updates as necessary would be helpful for the following reasons: (1) It serves as a frame of reference when reviewing the companies' procedures; and (2) The plans can be helpful in comparing best practices of the regulated companies.
However, staff would agree to remove the requirement to file the plan and updates with the commission.
Staff agrees with NWNG's request to remove any reference to the term plan.
Staff would agree to the language change from mislabeled meter bases to "improperly assigned meters."
PSE
PSE remains highly concerned about the provisions requiring utilities to file billing correction procedures and updates with the commission. The company states this practice is administratively burdensome, of questionable value, and imposes an unnecessary degree of oversight and uncertainty that seems to result in little more than micromanagement of utility practices.
 
Pacific Power
Requiring utilities to develop, maintain, and file with the commission procedures to identify and correct metering errors, billing errors, and unassigned usage situations is unnecessary.
The commission can determine the effectiveness of a utility's procedures by evaluating the types of complaints the commission receives from the utility's customers and may request the same information of the utility should an inquiry of investigation in [be] initiated.
Staff disagrees. Informal complaint investigation establishes trending information for more formal investigations.
See staff response above to NWNG and PSE's comment on this issue.
Subsection (6) (e)
Avista
Avista again proposes that item (e), "The actions taken to eliminate the cause of the bill correction" be removed. The reason for the bill correction is already included in part (a), therefore the company does not believe this requirement will add additional value.
Messaging is limited on a bill so the company proposes to eliminate any requirement that may not be needed. Issuing a letter will be necessary in some situations, but also comes at an added cost.
Staff agrees to remove item (e).
Subsection (6)(f)
Customer communications
PSE
PSE currently has an efficient, automated process in place that automatically sets up an installment plan for the customer to address a billing correction. Creating an expanded explanation customer communication piece would require an extensive process redesign and would be onerous.
Staff believes customer communication is important. It is important to fully explain the reasons for a bill correction.
WAC 480-90-178 and 480-100-178 detail extensive billing requirements for the companies to follow. The commission rules require a significant amount of detail on consumer bills so the customer can fully understand the bill and the payment requirements.
It follows that the company should issue a full explanation of the corrected bill so the customer can fully understand the reason(s) for the correction.
Subsection (7)(a)
Exceptions
NWNG
NWNG understands that the exemption is intended to be specific to the six month restriction on the time period for which an underbilled amount can be collected. As such, subsection (7) should be restated as follows:
"Corrected bills related to an underbilling due to tampering or interference with the utility's property, use of the utility's service through an illegal connection, or the fraudulent use of a utility's service, are exempt from the six month restriction set forth in subsection (5)(a) of this rule."
Staff agrees.
Subsection (7)(b)
Exemptions
NWNG
Part (b) is more appropriately presented as a standalone section.
NWNG recommends this become subsection (8) of the rules.
"(8) An estimated meter read made in accordance with subsection (1)(i) of this section is not considered a meter failure or malfunction or a situation where energy usage was inaccurately billed. A bill true-up based on an actual meter reading after one or more estimated bills is not considered a corrected bill for purposes of subsection (5)(a) of this rule."
Staff agrees.
Conflict with WAC 480-100-183 Complaint meter test
Pacific Power
The company maintains that a conflict exists between WAC 480-100-183 (5)(a) and proposed 480-100-178(5).
The company contends that if a utility discovered a meter error through a customer requested meter test and determined the customer was underbilled for twelve months, to comply with WAC 480-100-183 (5)(a), the utility would be required to adjust the customer's bill for the full twelve month period. However, had the meter error been identified by the utility's processes or procedures discussed in WAC 480-100-178 (5)(c), that same underbilling adjustment would be limited to six months.
Staff disagrees. WAC 480-100-183 (5)(a) does not specify the time frame for the corrected bill. The rule simply provides that if the utility can identify the date the customer was first billed from a defective meter, the utility must refund or bill the customer for the proper usage from that date.
WAC 480-100-178(5) provides additional clarification regarding the collection period for the corrected bill.
Appendix showing table mentioned in staff response regarding underbilled amounts for nonresidential customers.
The amounts reported for nonresidential customers are very small in comparison to the companies' total revenues, and the
difference between the impact of corrected bills issued in excess of six months to nonresidential customers and those issued
to residential customers is not significant.
 
Nonresidential
Residential
 
 
Number of accounts billed in excess of six months (2012-2014)
Average annual total amount billed in excess of six months (2012-2014)
Percent of average annual revenue
Number of accounts billed in excess of six months (2012-2014)
Average annual total amount billed in excess of six months (2012-2014)
Percent of average annual revenue
Average annual revenue
Avista
8
$12,944
0.002%
18
$3,115
0.000%
     $650,789,883
PSE
267
$467,684
0.015%
1,541
$406,967
0.013%
$3,184,100,333
NWNG
3
$49,037
0.068%
4
$51
0.000%
$71,836,882
PPL
2
$280
0.000%
7
$1,010
0.000%
$311,712,138
CNGC
Not reported
Not reported
 
Not reported
Not reported
 
 
Appendix B
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 11-06-032, filed 2/25/11, effective 3/28/11)
WAC 480-90-178 Billing requirements and payment date.
(1) Customer bills must:
(a) Be issued at intervals not to exceed two one-month billing cycles, unless the utility can show good cause for delaying the issuance of the bill. The utility must be able to show good cause if requested by the commission;
(b) Show the total amount due and payable;
(c) Show the date the bill becomes delinquent if not paid;
(d) Show the utility's business address, business hours, and toll-free telephone number and emergency telephone number by which a customer may contact the utility;
(e) Show the current and previous meter readings, the current read date, and the total amount of therms used;
(f) Show the amount of therms used for each billing rate, the applicable billing rates per therm, the basic charge or minimum bill;
(g) Show the amount of any municipal tax surcharges or their respective percentage rates;
(h) Clearly identify when a bill has been prorated. A prorated bill must be issued when service is provided for a fraction of the billing period. Unless otherwise specified in the utility's tariff, the charge must be prorated in the following manner:
(i) Flat-rate service must be prorated on the basis of the proportionate part of the period that service was rendered;
(ii) Metered service must be billed for the amount metered. The basic or minimum charge must be billed in full;
(i) Clearly identify when a bill is based on an estimation.
(i) A utility must detail its method(s) for estimating customer bills in its tariff;
(ii) The utility may not estimate for more than four consecutive months unless the cause of the estimation is inclement weather, terrain, or a previous arrangement with the customer; and
(j) Clearly identify determination of maximum demand. A utility providing service to any customer on a demand basis must detail in its filed tariff the method of applying charges and of ascertaining the demand.
(2) The minimum time allowed for payment after the bill's mailing date must be fifteen days, if mailed from within the states of Washington, Oregon, or Idaho, or eighteen days if mailed from outside the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
(3) The utility must allow a customer to change a designated payment-due date when the customer has a satisfactory reason for the change. A satisfactory reason may include, but is not limited to, adjustment of a designated payment-due date to parallel receipt of income. The preferred payment date must be prior to the next billing date.
(4) With the consent of the customer, a utility may provide billings in electronic form if the bill meets all the requirements for the use of electronic information in this chapter. The utility must maintain a record of the consent as a part of the customer's account record, and the customer may change from electronic to printed billing upon request, as provided in this chapter. The utility must complete the change within two billing cycles of the request.
(5) Corrected bills:
(a) A utility must issue a corrected bill upon finding that an underbilling or overbilling occurred as a result of a meter failure, meter malfunction, meter with unassigned energy usage, or any other situation where energy usage was not billed or was inaccurately billed. The utility must use the rates and rate schedule in effect during the billing period(s) covered by the corrected bill. The utility must issue the corrected bill within sixty days from the date the utility discovered that an account had been underbilled or overbilled. Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section, when a utility's investigation finds that it has underbilled energy usage, it may not collect underbilled amounts for any period greater than six months from the date the error occurred. The maximum period for which utilities are required to adjust bills for overbilling is six years.
(b) For the purposes of this rule:
(i) A meter failure or malfunction is defined as: A mechanical malfunction or failure that prevents the meter or any ancillary data collection or transmission device from registering or transmitting the actual amount of energy used. A meter failure or malfunction includes, but is not limited to, a stopped meter, a meter that is faster or slower than the metering tolerance specified in WAC 480-90-338, or an erratic meter.
(ii) An unassigned energy usage meter is defined as a meter that is installed at a valid service address and accurately records energy usage during a period of time where there was no active gas service account at that premises.
(c) A utility must develop and maintain procedures that establish practices for the prompt identification, repair and replacement of meters that are not functioning correctly and for identification of unassigned usage meters. The objective of such procedures shall be to mitigate the number of underbilling occurrences that exceed six months in duration. These procedures must address, at a minimum:
(i) Practices to prevent the issuance of corrected bills due to incorrect prorated bills, improperly assigned meters, incorrectly installed meters, incorrect billing rate schedules, incorrect billing multipliers, or any other event that may affect billing accuracy.
(ii) Processes for the investigation of meter issues include, but are not limited to, stopped, slowed, and erratic usage meters.
(iii) Processes for the investigation of meter usage from unidentified usage meters.
(6) For the purpose of this rule, a corrected bill may take the form of a newly issued bill or may be reflected as a line item adjustment on a subsequent monthly or bimonthly bill. When a corrected bill is issued, the utility must provide the following information on the corrected bill, in a bill insert, letter, or any combination of methods that clearly explains all the information required to be sent to the customer:
(a) The reason for the bill correction;
(b) A breakdown of the bill correction for each month included in the corrected bill;
(c) The total amount of the bill correction that is due and payable;
(d) The time period covered by the bill correction; and
(e) When issuing a corrected bill for underbilling, an explanation of the availability of payment arrangements in accordance with WAC 480-90-138(1) payment arrangements.
(7) Exceptions to billing correction rules:
(a) Corrected bills related to an underbilling due to tampering or interference with the utility's property, use of the utility's service through an illegal connection, or the fraudulent use of a utility's service, are exempt from the six-month restriction set forth in subsection (5)(a) of this section.
(b) Adjustments for underbilling of nonresidential customers will be limited to six months. However, the utility may extend this period for good cause if a longer period is appropriate due to circumstances such as the complexity of specific accounts, changing metering configurations, load changes of large industrial customers, special meter configuration involving current transformers, or wiring reconfigurations by the customer. Utilities must report to the commission within sixty days the reasons for any adjustments longer than six months.
(c) The utility may choose not to issue a corrected bill to recover underbilled amounts less than fifty dollars.
(8) An estimated meter read made in accordance with subsection (1)(i) of this section is not considered a meter failure or malfunction or a billing error. A bill true-up based on an actual meter reading after one or more estimated bills is not considered a corrected bill for purposes of subsection (5)(a) of this section.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 11-06-032, filed 2/25/11, effective 3/28/11)
WAC 480-100-178 Billing requirements and payment date.
(1) Customer bills must:
(a) Be issued at intervals not to exceed two one-month billing cycles, unless the utility can show good cause for delaying the issuance of the bill. The utility must be able to show good cause if requested by the commission;
(b) Show the total amount due and payable;
(c) Show the date the bill becomes delinquent if not paid;
(d) Show the utility's business address, business hours, and a toll-free telephone number and an emergency telephone number by which a customer may contact the utility;
(e) Show the current and previous meter readings, the current read date, and the total amount of kilowatt hours used;
(f) Show the amount of kilowatt hours used for each billing rate, the applicable billing rates per kilowatt hour, the basic charge or minimum bill;
(g) Show the amount of any municipal tax surcharges or their respective percentage rates;
(h) Clearly identify when a bill has been prorated. A prorated bill must be issued when service is provided for a fraction of the billing period. Unless otherwise specified in the utility's tariff, the charge must be prorated in the following manner:
(i) Flat-rate service must be prorated on the basis of the proportionate part of the period the service was rendered;
(ii) Metered service must be billed for the amount metered. The basic or minimum charge must be billed in full.
(i) Clearly identify when a bill is based on an estimation.
(i) The utility must detail its method(s) for estimating customer bills in its tariff;
(ii) The utility may not estimate for more than four consecutive months, unless the cause of the estimation is inclement weather, terrain, or a previous arrangement with the customer;
(j) Clearly identify determination of maximum demand. A utility providing service to any customer on a demand basis must detail in its filed tariff the method of applying charges and of ascertaining the demand.
(2) The minimum time allowed for payment after the bill's mailing date must be fifteen days, if mailed from within the states of Washington, Oregon, or Idaho, or eighteen days if mailed from outside the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
(3) The utility must allow a customer to change a designated payment-due date when the customer has a satisfactory reason for the change. A satisfactory reason may include, but is not limited to, adjustment of a designated payment-due date to parallel receipt of income. The preferred payment date must be prior to the next billing date.
(4) With the consent of the customer, a utility may provide billings in electronic form if the bill meets all the requirements for the use of electronic information in this chapter. The utility must maintain a record of the consent as a part of the customer's account record, and the customer may change from electronic to printed billing upon request, as provided in this chapter. The utility must complete the change within two billing cycles of the request.
(5) Corrected bills:
(a) A utility must issue a corrected bill upon finding that an underbilling or overbilling occurred as a result of a meter failure, meter malfunction, meter with unassigned energy usage, or any other situation where energy usage was not billed or was inaccurately billed. The utility must use the rates and rate schedule in effect during the billing period(s) covered by the corrected bill. The utility must issue the corrected bill within sixty days from the date the utility discovered that an account had been underbilled or overbilled. Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section, when a utility's investigation finds that it has underbilled energy usage, it may not collect underbilled amounts for any period greater than six months from the date the error occurred. The maximum period for which utilities are required to adjust bills for overbilling is six years.
(b) For the purposes of this rule:
(i) A meter failure or malfunction is defined as: A mechanical malfunction or failure that prevents the meter or any ancillary data collection or transmission device from registering or transmitting the actual amount of energy used. A meter failure or malfunction includes, but is not limited to, a stopped meter, a meter that is faster or slower than the metering tolerance specified in WAC 480-100-338, or an erratic meter.
(ii) An unassigned energy usage meter is defined as a meter that is installed at a valid service address and accurately records energy usage during a period of time where there was no active electric service account at that premises.
(c) A utility must develop and maintain procedures that establish practices for the prompt identification, repair and replacement of meters that are not functioning correctly and for identification of unassigned usage meters. The objective of such procedures shall be to mitigate the number of underbilling occurrences that exceed six months in duration. These procedures must address, at a minimum:
(i) Practices to prevent the issuance of corrected bills due to incorrect prorated bills, improperly assigned meters, incorrectly installed meters, incorrect billing rate schedules, incorrect billing multipliers, or any other event that may affect billing accuracy.
(ii) Processes for the investigation of meter issues include, but are not limited to, stopped, slowed, and erratic usage meters.
(iii) Processes for the investigation of meter usage from unidentified usage meters.
(6) For the purpose of this rule, a corrected bill may take the form of a newly issued bill or may be reflected as a line item adjustment on a subsequent monthly or bimonthly bill. When a corrected bill is issued, the utility must provide the following information on the corrected bill, in a bill insert, letter, or any combination of methods that clearly explains all the information required to be sent to the customer:
(a) The reason for the bill correction;
(b) A breakdown of the bill correction for each month included in the corrected bill;
(c) The total amount of the bill correction that is due and payable;
(d) The time period covered by the bill correction; and
(e) When issuing a corrected bill for underbilling, an explanation of the availability of payment arrangements in accordance with WAC 480-100-138(1) payment arrangements.
(7) Exceptions to billing correction rules:
(a) Corrected bills related to an underbilling due to tampering or interference with the utility's property, use of the utility's service through an illegal connection, or the fraudulent use of a utility's service, are exempt from the six-month restriction set forth in subsection (5)(a) of this section.
(b) Adjustments for underbilling of nonresidential customers will be limited to six months. However, the utility may extend this period for good cause if a longer period is appropriate due to circumstances such as the complexity of specific accounts, changing metering configurations, load changes of large industrial customers, special meter configuration involving current transformers, or wiring reconfiguration by the customer. Utilities must report to the commission within sixty days the reasons for any adjustments longer than six months.
(c) The utility may choose not to issue a corrected bill to recover underbilled amounts less than fifty dollars.
(8) An estimated meter read made in accordance with subsection (1)(i) of this section is not considered a meter failure or malfunction or a situation where energy usage was inaccurately billed. A bill true-up (correction) based on an actual meter reading after one or more estimated bills is not considered a corrected bill for purposes of subsection (5)(a) of this section.