Consultation for Rule 003 - Service Standards for Energy Service Providers
Status: Ongoing
Last updated: December 20, 2018
Contact:
regulatorypolicy@auc.ab.ca
December 20, 2018
On June 11, 2018, Bill 13: An Act to Secure Alberta's Electricity Future came into force, which empowered the Commission to apply financial penalties to entities violating a Commission order, rule or decision.
In Bulletin 2018-16 the commission proposed changes to AUC Rule 003: Service Quality and Reliability Performance Monitoring and Reporting for Regulated Rate Providers and Default Supply Providers. Provisions in the Electric Utilities Act and Gas Utilities Act allow the Commission to establish service quality standards for owners of electric utilities, gas utilities, regulated service providers and retailers. Revisions to Rule 003 set out certain billing and customer care requirements for these entities, including rural electrification associations, municipally-owned electric utilities and competitive retailers.
The Commission approved changes to Rule 003 on December 11, 2018 and revised the name to be Rule 003: Service Standards for Energy Service Providers effective January 1, 2019.
April 9, 2018
The AUC is proposing a change to Rule 003 regarding service guarantee credits. See Bulletin 2018-07 for details.
Rule 003 sets out the reporting requirements for regulated rate providers and default supply providers. Rule 003 was put in place to set minimum performance standards of service quality and reliability for regulated retailers and default supply providers to facilitate the monitoring of performance in relation to those standards. The Alberta Utilities Commission regularly reviews Rule 003 reporting and initiates consultation with stakeholders as needed to ensure consistency in reporting metrics, to standardize the reporting format and to streamline the reporting process.
Consultation on this rule primarily involves engagement from representatives of companies who are responsible for reporting the metrics required in the rule. Consumer groups are also invited to participate.
The recent version of
Rule 003 was approved on July 1, 2010.
Service quality and compliance reporting
The AUC requires regulated utilities to quarterly and annually provide a detailed
service quality report that provides extensive information and reporting about utility-specific energy outages and customer service standards. It also ensures that
customers are treated fairly. Regulated utilities are expected to perform within strict standards set by the AUC, contained in two AUC rules,
Rule 002 and
Rule 003. Staff of the AUC review these reports and meet with utility officials at least once annually to discuss utility performance, including customer complaints, and investigate shortcomings if they occur. When necessary an enforcement proceeding can be initiated to deal with sub-par performance.
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