4.2. ERMUSR 12-08-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Tom Sagstetter—Conservation and Key Accounts John Dietz—Chair Manager Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Jennie Nelson—Customer Service Manager Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: December 8th,2015 4.2 SUBJECT: Security Deposit Policy BACKGROUND: Based on recent commercial customer experiences and direction from the Utility Commission,staff has been reviewing the Security Deposit Policy, The goal of the policy review is to have measures in place that are consistent with industry standards and minimize the financial risk to the Utility and all customers. At this time,the focus of the policy review is for the commercial customer class only because of the magnitude of financial risk with the largest customers, A number of items regarding the policy were already discussed at the November commission meeting. Per commission direction, staff has identified several options to strengthen procedures and minimize risk.Below is a list of information staff has assembled to determine next steps in the policy review.Attached is the current Security Deposit Policy for reference. DISCUSSION: The goal of the security deposit policy revision is to minimize the risk to all ratepayers,yet still provide an environment that encourages business to locate within the ERMU service territory. The policy also has to be executable and administratively manageable for staff in order for this to be successful. Also,the administrative costs need to be reasonable in comparison to the risk mitigation. Staff understands that risk will always be a part of this business,but we know that there needs to be a balance between policy/procedure and economic development. Staff also surveyed several utilities in the area and found that our current policy is very similar to others, even a tad more strict.With all of those thoughts in mind, staff has created a new procedure for commercial account move-ins. The new move-in process is made of roughly three different parts: new commercial application,security deposit dollar amount and pre3ayment,and a revised service agreement that needs to be signed in person.Below are bullet points outlining the potential new procedure: 1. Account Application a. New commercial application i. Based on other local utilities' applications ii. Signed by local customer authorized representative iii. Help obtain current property owner or broperty management contact information to assist with disconnects that may be needed T EDED DI Page 1 of 2 NATURE Reliable PublicG Power Provider P O W E R E D T o S ERV E 58