I’m not sure where ideas for this newsletter would originate were it not for the listservs I belong to! This week, it was a question about starting a round-up program to assist customers who have difficulty paying their bills. Since […]
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Utility Billing
A recent listserv post started me thinking about policies and policy manuals, in particular. The question on the listserv asked about charging a returned check fee for a failed ACH payment. This seems like an easy answer – or is […]
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As we approach the New Year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the past year and wish you a very Happy New Year! This past year was my first full year as a freelance consultant, helping utilities […]
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Assessing a late fee after the due date serves two purposes for a utility. One is to reimburse the utility for the loss of cash flow, and resulting interest income, because your customer didn’t pay on time. The other is […]
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I’ve been doing some research into customer portals, primarily for utilities with AMI systems. A customer portal for a utility with an AMI system allows customers to view their usage trends and monitor their hourly usage. However, not all utilities […]
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Recently, during the Q&A session following a speaking engagement, an attendee asked how other utilities handle online applications for service. Specifically, the question was about verifying photo ID, which led to a discussion of the Red Flags Rule. I was […]
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During the Days of Exposure exercise portion of my Improving Revenue Collections for Utilities presentation at a recent speaking engagement, a couple of attendees inquired about the elapsed time between reading meters and mailing bills. This is actually low-hanging fruit […]
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I recently completed a business review for a utility with considerable outstanding unpaid debt. When I asked if they were participating in the state’s debt setoff program, they were not. Let’s look at why that may be a mistake. What […]
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Hopefully, you know that bank drafts are far and away the easiest way to collect payments. If you’re not, the obvious question is, why? (Editorial note: even if you’re already accepting bank drafts, please don’t stop reading now. There will […]
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I’ve reached another milestone! This issue of the Utility Information Pipeline marks the 300th issue, dating back to January, 2011. In late 2010, while driving to a conference with a co-worker, I tossed out an idea I’d been kicking around […]
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