Kansas Finds AMI Negates Need for Final In-Person Bill Collection Efforts

On a pilot basis, the Kansas State Corporation Commission has relieved two electric utilities in the state of their long-standing duty to make one final "knock and collect" attempt prior to terminating service for nonpayment of bills.

The commission said that changing technology in metering and billing systems, seen most prominently in the deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), had rendered in-person notification of impending discontinuance of service no longer necessary, at least for the two subject utilities, which so far are the only ones in Kansas to have rolled out smart meters on a widespread basis within their service territories.

The commission related that a survey conducted by its staff indicated that the two utilities, Westar Energy and Southern Pioneer Electric Company, were presently the only electric distribution companies in the state with enough AMI installations to warrant a waiver from the traditional in-person notice requirements.

The commission explained that smart meters provide utilities with the capability of connecting and disconnecting service remotely, without the need to actually access the affected premises. The commission stated that the knock and collect practice had been created to give a customer in arrears every possible chance to tender payment before service was cut off.

It elaborated that because conventional analog meters require a technician to physically turn off service at the meter, there was no real added cost to the utility of having that technician make one last attempt to secure payment since he was already on-site. But, the commission said, AMI not only has opened up a whole new avenue of communication between utilities and their customers, but also has streamlined the process for initiating and terminating service.

The commission pointed out that smart meter technology enables a utility to use electronic commands to make changes in service, making such changes much faster and simpler. Although telling Westar and Southern Pioneer that they need no longer provide personal notice to a customer about an impending loss of service, the commission encouraged both utilities to explore various means of communicating with affected customers.

The commission explained that regardless of a customer's AMI capability, the customer still must be timely notified if they are in jeopardy of having their service disconnected. The commission suggested several modes of communication, such as phone calls, email, and/or text messaging for keeping customers abreast of their service status.

Looking specifically at Westar, the commission commented that due to the lower costs involved in discontinuing or restoring service via a smart meter, the utility had consented to modification of its service disconnection and reconnection fees. Under the amended schedules, the former will decline from $15 to only $5, while the latter, which used to be set at $20, will be eliminated entirely.

However, the commission stressed that the reduced fees were applicable only to ratepayers with AMI. The commission emphasized as well that the in-person knock and collect requirement remained in place for the state's other utilities, which have not yet pursued AMI to any discernible degree. Re Electric and Natural Gas Billing Standards Related to On-Premises Collections, Docket No. 15-GIMX-344- GIV, Aug. 17, 2017 (Kan.S.C.C.).