Extending the Retail Portfolio: Fixed Billing for Mass Market Customers

June 4, 2020 | , ::

0620-fixed-billing

Retail rate designers have been experimenting with broadening choices for residential and small commercial customers. Not only are they offering time-of-use pricing, sometimes with short-notice critical price updates, but also at the other end of the pricing spectrum with fixed billing.  Fixed billing offers customers a lump-sum bill that is fixed for the contract period, usually a year, based on historical usage and current rates, and allowing for risk elements.

This workshop will introduce you to the product, including its structure, pricing mechanisms and risk methodology. The workshop will also discuss how offers are developed for contract initiation and renewal, making clear how understanding of customer behavior is used to retain customers while providing a profitable pricing option for the utility. Participants will understand why customers select this rate and stay with it, and how they respond to it.

Learning Outcomes

• Review the fixed-bill product design and how it fits in the retail portfolio
• Identify how customers make use of fixed billing.
• Review the reasons why the fixed-bill design meets the basic requirements of rate design.
• Explore the interaction of fixed billing and demand-side management

Credits

EUCI is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes quality of continuing education and training.

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer 0.3 CEUs for this event.

 

Requirements for Successful Completion of Program

Participants must sign in/out each day and be in attendance for the entirety of the course to be eligible for continuing education credit.

Instructional Methods

Case Studies, Panel Discussions and PowerPoint presentations

June 4, 2020 Central Time

9:15 – 9:30 am :: Login

9:30 am – 12:45 pm :: Workshop Timing

• “All-you-can-eat” energy! How can this be?
• The product design
  • Why does this differ from budget billing?
• The components of fixed-bill pricing:
  • Customer response
  • Risk considerations
    • Weather
    • Other risks
  • What does an extra kWh cost?
• The Georgia Power Fixed-bill pricing experience:
  • History of the program
  • Who likes fixed billing and why?
  • Why does Georgia Power like fixed billing?
  • How do customers participate? Why is customer renewal so strong?
  • Internal capabilities for success
  • What fixed billing has taught us and where do we go from here
• The fixed-bill bugaboo: does it deter conservation?
• Summary
  • How fixed billing benefits customers and the utility
  • How to manage the risks of fixed billing

Bruce Chapman, Vice President, Christensen Associates

Mr. Chapman is a Vice President at Christensen Associates Energy Consulting. He assists clients in the electricity and natural gas industries to improve their costing and pricing capabilities. Mr. Chapman advises clients in such areas of expertise as: cost-of-service analysis and rate design based upon both established regulatory and market-based principles; innovative rate design including demand response products, renewables pricing, fixed billing, and other market-based retail pricing products; load forecasting and load research analysis. Additionally, he has supervised the development of software required for the implementation and support of innovative retail products.

Seth Blocker, Pricing Design Manager, Georgia Power

Seth Blocker is manager of the Pricing Design function for Georgia Power Company. In this role, he leads the team responsible for all rate design activities – including designing prices for all tariff filings, creating new tariffs, administering the largest FlatBill program in the country, and studying customer behaviors and revenue impacts from rate designs. Seth previously served as Regulatory Affairs Manager for Georgia Power where he was an advisor to the marketing organization on regulatory matters – identifying regulatory risks, leading strategic regulatory initiatives, and managing communications across Georgia Power on regulatory activities.  Prior to that, Seth managed a team responsible for implementing the company’s utility scale renewable energy programs. In Seth’s 18 years with Georgia Power, he has worked in multiple positions of increasing responsibility throughout the Marketing, Resource Planning and Finance organizations, always serving as an integral part of the company’s strategic planning processes and analyses.  

Our courses are designed to be the best possible use of your valuable time – get the information you need to improve your position in the market in an interactive, dynamic format.

We will be using Microsoft Teams to facilitate your participation in the upcoming event. You do not need to have an existing Teams account in order to participate in the broadcast – the course will play in your browser and you will have the option of using a microphone to speak with the room and ask questions, or type any questions in via the chat window and our on-site representative will relay your question to the instructor.

• You will receive a meeting invitation will include a link to join the meeting.
• Separate meeting invitations will be sent for the morning and afternoon sessions of the course.
  • You will need to join the appropriate meeting at the appropriate time. 
• If you are using a microphone, please ensure that it is muted until such time as you need to ask a question.
• The remote meeting connection will be open approximately 30 minutes before the start of the course. We encourage you to connect as early as possible in case you experience any unforeseen problems.

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS EVENT:

Extending the Retail Portfolio: Fixed Billing for Mass Market Customers

June 4, 2020 | ,

Buy 4 in-person seats and only pay for 3! For this event every fourth in-person attendee is free!