4.1. ERMUSR 02-09-2016 - 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: February 9th, 2016 4.1 SUBJECT: g Customer Deposit Policy(Security Deposit Policy) BACKGROUND: Based on recent commercial customer experiences and direction from the Utilities Commission,staff has been reviewing the Customer Deposit Policy. The goal of the new policy is to have measures in place that are consistent with industry standards and minimize the financial risk to the Utilities and all customers. A number of items regarding the policy were discussed at previous commission meetings.Per commission direction,staff has identified several options to strengthen procedures and minimize risk. Please note that in previous Commission meetings and memorandums the title of the policy was Security Deposit Policy. In all cases this policy should have been titled Customer Deposit Policy. DISCUSSION: The goal of the revised customer deposit policy is to minimize the risk to all ratepayers,yet still provide an environment that encourages businesses 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 risks will always be a part of this business,but staff also realizes there needs to be a balance between policy/procedure and customer satisfaction. The ability to calculate and collect a more appropriate security deposit from all commercial customers will help protect all rate payers. These changes will also allow ERMU to collect more detailed information on each commercial customer. Following is a list of improvements that will be achieved with the revised customer deposit policy: • The policy clearly outlines that all new customers and existing customers that are setting up new accounts or adding an additional service location will be subject to a deposit based on risk factors. • The customer will be required to complete a service application and sign a service agreement. The service application will allow ERMU staff to more accurately establish customer deposits and gather important contact information for the business customer and property owner if the business is in a leased space. The signed service agreement will provide local accountability and establish the mechanism for collecting the deposit amount and issuing a receipt for the deposit. 'POWERED 11 El Page 1 of 2 NATURE Reliable Public® Power Provider P OwEREo T O S ERVE 87