Universal Service Payment Outcomes

1
Universal Service Payment Outcomes

• Duquesne Light Company
• Roger D. Colton
• April 27, 2000

2
Payment Objectives

• Complete payment
• Prompt payment
• Regular payment
• Automatic payment
• Profitable payment
• NEW Continuing payment

3
Affordability Objective

• Bills are affordable when they can be paid
  without the consumer regularly engaging in an
  activity that is harmful to their health, safety
  or welfare.
• Paid-but-unaffordable customer

4
Company-Customer Interaction

• Jointness of effort
• But consider past objections
• But inappropriate behavior is in eyes of
  beholder

• Helps control usage
• Applies for available assistance
• Regular communication
• Meets reasonable expectation
• Does not game system

5
Customer-side Characteristics

• Knowledge
• Crisis-orientation
• Soft skills

• Energy use/costs
• Cost of housing
• Household budgeting
• Personal planning
• Fatalism
• Helplessness
• Personal interactions

6
Outcome Summary

• Primary outcomes payment outcomes
• Affordability on exception basis
• Company/customer outcomes secondary
• Customer-side outcomes tactics, not outcomes

7
For more information

• roger_at_fsconline.com