Utility's Residential POR Discount Rate To Increase 50% (More Than 1 Percentage Point)

Fitchburg Gas and Electric d/b/a Unitil has filed revised Standard Complete Billing Percentages (purchase of receivables [POR] discount rates), to be effective December 1

The new residential POR discount rate of 3.38% is over 50% higher than the current rate of 2.25%

The new Small/Regular General Service POR discount rate is 0.71%, versus the current negative discount of (0.48%).

Fitchburg Gas and Electric's updated Standard Complete Billing Percentages to be effective December 1, 2019 are as follows:

Residential
Uncollectible       3.41%
Reconciliation     -0.03%
Total               3.38%



Small/Regular General Service
Uncollectible       0.19%
Reconciliation      0.52%
Total               0.71%

The new rates remains subject to DPU approval

Fitchburg Gas and Electric noted that, per a prior DPU order, "the Company made an adjustment of $325,000 to normalize the amount of write-offs used to calculate the proposed UP [Uncollectible Percentage] for effect December 1, 2018. In 2017, the Company delayed recording write-offs while implementing a new billing system in July, resulting in a lower level of write-offs. The Company adjusted the UP by the estimated write-off amount that would have occurred in 2017 in order to provide a better estimated rate and avoid a large undercollection in the reconciliation for December 1, 2018 through November 30, 2019. The adjustment has been reversed out of 2018 actual data in this filing. For Schedule 3, the actual (unadjusted) 2018 write-off percentage was used for determining the Prior Period Reconciliation Percentage."

For comparison, Fitchburg Gas and Electric's current Standard Complete Billing Percentages are as follows:

Residential
Uncollectible       4.00%
Reconciliation     -1.75%
Total               2.25%



Small/Regular General Service
Uncollectible       0.66%
Reconciliation     -1.14%
Total              -0.48%

Docket 19-POR-04