Citing ESCO Opposition to Funding, NiMo Proposes to Shelve Remote Account Number Access Plan

Niagara Mohawk has proposed that it not implement its plan to provide customers with remote access to their account numbers at this time due to the lack of agreement among ESCOs to fund implementation (98-M-1343).

Providing customers with remote access to their account numbers is intended by the New York PSC to facilitate shopping at malls, sporting events, and other venues where customers may not have their bill and utility account number needed for enrollment.

NiMo has proposed modifying its interactive voice response system to provide such remote access to the customer account number. Costs of implementation is $17,500, which NiMo had proposed to split evenly among the 46 ESCOs actively marketing in its service territory, or a per ESCO cost of $381.

NiMo surveyed ESCOs' willingness to fund such implementation. Out of the active 46 marketers in its service territory, NiMo received 10 no votes, 11 unconditional yes votes, 2 conditional yes votes, and no responses from 23 ESCOs.

"National Grid believes ... based on the significant number of 'no' votes received and the significant number of ESCOs who did not vote, that there will be significant opposition from the ESCOs marketing in its service territory to all ESCOs paying for the costs of the IVR upgrade."

"Because the ESCOs and the Company have not been able to devise a workable cost recovery mechanism that is satisfactory to all parties, the Company proposes at this time to not implement its plan approved by the Commission in the Order to provide customers with real-time remote access to the customer's utility account number," NiMo said.

"Should the Commission nevertheless wish the Company to implement the plan, the Company will do so and will divide the costs of doing so among all the ESCOs in its service territory," NiMo added.