Dealing with a frustrating situation here in Spokane. Avista has been estimating bills for a small commercial customer for 6 months, but they've been using usage history from the wrong rate schedule. Customer was moved from Schedule 25 (general service) to Schedule 31 (small commercial) but their estimating algorithm is still pulling data from the old rate class. This is creating estimates that are about 40% too high. Anyone know the best way to get Avista's attention on estimation methodology errors?
Avista missed meter reads for 6 months - using estimates from wrong rate class
Janet, I haven't dealt with Avista specifically, but NorthWestern Energy here in Montana had similar issues with their billing system after rate schedule changes. The key was documenting exactly which historical data they were using versus what they should be using. Do you have the customer's actual usage data from before the rate change?
Yes Noel, I have complete records going back 18 months. The usage pattern is totally different between the two rate classes - Schedule 25 had much higher peak demand charges which skewed the estimates way up. I've called Avista three times but keep getting transferred between departments.
Janet, you might want to try reaching out to their Business Customer Solutions team directly. Portland General Electric has a similar group that handles complex billing issues. Sometimes bypassing the regular customer service queue gets better results. Also, filing a written complaint might force them to assign someone who actually understands rate schedules.