Chapter 8 Certified Supplier Guidebook
Certified Supplier Guidebook Chapter 8: Billing and Payment Processing Introduction
This chapter reviews the customer choice billing policies and practices used by Duke Energy. This chapter specifically reviews the following topics:
• Certified Supplier End-Use Customer Billing Options
- Duke Energy Consolidated Rate-Ready Billing Option
- Standard Rate Types for Rate-Ready Billing
- Duke Energy's Role in Implementing Consolidated Rate-Ready Billing
- The Certified Supplier's Role in Implementing
-Duke Energy Consolidated Bill-Ready Billing Option
- Dual Billing Option
- Budget Billing Option
- Purchase of Accounts Receivable
• Bill Format and Messages
- Abandonment Bill Message
- Requesting a Duplicate Bill
• End-Use Customer Payment/Remittance
• Duke Energy Billing/Payment Processing for Certified Suppliers
Note: Information associated with billing of the certified supplier for the settlement of transmission service, ancillary service, and other service charges is provided in Chapter 10: Load Profiling, Imbalance, and Settlement in this guidebook.
Certified Supplier End-Use Customer Billing Options
A certified supplier must select one of the following billing options for each of its end-use customers and indicate its choice when submitting the enrollment DASR to Duke Energy:
Each of the above billing options is described below.
Duke Energy Consolidated Rate-Ready Billing Option
Under the consolidated rate-ready billing option, the certified supplier will send its rate schedules to Duke Energy. During each billing cycle, Duke Energy will compute the certified supplier charges based upon the certified supplier's current rate schedules and end-use customer meter data. Duke Energy will then forward a consolidated invoice to the end-use customer.
Certified suppliers that choose the consolidated rate-ready billing option must furnish specific rate information to Duke Energy by submitting the certified supplier rate submission form. Each certified supplier will have a secured identification number and password to access a rate submission form located on Duke Energy's Customer Choice website. A certified supplier may also contact Duke Energy’s Certified Supplier Business Center by phone at 513-287-2322, by fax at 513-287-2718, or by e-mail sent to csbcreps@duke-energy.com
Standard Rate Types for Rate-Ready Billing:
Duke Energy defines a standard rate as falling into one of four rate types:
- Non-volumetric Rate — a flat charge to the end-use customer regardless of the amount of consumption for a given period of time.
Example:
$100.00 per billing cycle no matter how many kWh or kW are consumed - Flat Rate — a flat charge per kWh and/or kW
Example:
$ 0.08 per kWh
$10.00 per kW - Multi-tiered Rate — a rate where each group (tier) of units of consumption (kWh or kW) is priced at a certain rate while other groups of units of consumption are priced at a different rate.
Example:
1 - 1000 kWh @ $0.08
1001 - 5000 kWh @ $0.07
5001 - 6000 kWh @ $0.06 - Time-of-Use Rate — a rate where the amount charged per unit (kWh or kW) varies according to the time of day it was consumed. This reflects the difference in "on-peak" and "off-peak" demands and the costs to provide service at those times.
Example:
$10.00 per kW used during "on-peak" period
- and -
$ 5.00 per kW used during "off-peak" period
For time-of-use rates, CG&E defines "on-peak" and "off-peak" times as follows:
• Summer Season (Monday through Friday)
On-peak: 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Off-peak: 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 a.m.Summer season is defined as May meter reading date through September meter reading date for interval meters.
Summer season is defined as June 1 through September 30 for non-interval meters.
• Winter Season (Monday through Friday)
On-peak: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Off-peak: 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
On-peak: 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Off-peak: 9:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.
• The following are off-peak times:
• Saturday
• Sunday
• Holidays:
- New Year's Day
- President's Day
- Good Friday
- Memorial Day
- Fourth of July
- Labor Day
- Columbus Day
- Veteran's Day
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
Note: If a holiday is on Sunday, the following Monday is programmed for off peak hours. Please view Appendix G: Duke Energy Holiday Schedule.
Duke Energy's Role in Implementing Consolidated Rate-Ready Billing:
- Duke Energy will supply a rate submission form for the above standard rates for the certified supplier to use for submitting rates. The rate submission form will be located in the secured section of the Duke Energy customer choice website.
- Duke Energy will send the certified supplier the test results via e-mail after the rate is entered into the billing system and tested.
- Duke Energy will have five calendar days to set-up and system test standard rates before sending the tested rates back to the certified supplier for approval.
- Duke Energy will put rates into production no more than three business days following approval by the certified supplier
- Duke Energy will reject all transactions that request a rate that is not in production.
- If Duke Energy inaccurately applies the usage information to the rate approved by the certified supplier, the certified supplier must notify Duke Energy immediately and Duke Energy will make a correction in a succeeding billing period.
- If Duke Energy makes an error, such as a switched meter or misread meter, under the consolidated billing option, Duke Energy will correct the error and send revised usage.
- Duke Energy will provide the certified supplier with usage information and charges via EDI.
- Duke Energy will handle certified suppliers' requests for non-standard rates on a case-by-case basis. Duke Energy will charge the certified supplier a tariffed hourly rate to institute program modifications associated with implementation of non-standard rates. The charge for this service is described in Appendix A: Certified Supplier Tariff of this guidebook. In general, non-standard rates are implemented in association with major Duke Energy information system upgrades that occur no more than twice per year. A minimum of six months is required to implement a non-standard supplier rate. Suppliers should give as much advanced notice as possible when requesting non-standard rates..
- Duke Energy will provide a budget billing option to end-use customers (see Budget Billing Option in this chapter for further information).
The Certified Supplier's Role in Implementing Consolidated Rate-Ready Billing:
- Complete the rate submission form and send it to Duke Energy.
- Review the test results after the rate is entered into Duke Energy's billing system and tested.
- Authorize Duke Energy to begin billing, using the new rates, before enrolling any end-use customers.
- Assume responsibility for all erroneous bills when the rates do not reflect the desired pricing of the certified supplier if the rates have been approved by the certified supplier. The certified supplier is responsible for all adjustments with their end-use customers; Duke Energy will not cancel and rebill due to certified supplier errors.
- Resolve all end-use customer/certified supplier rate disputes.
NOTE: Duke Energy limits the number of rates a certified supplier may assign to an account to one, no matter how many meters the account may have. If a supplier submits multiple rates for the same enrollment or change request, Duke Energy will select the last rate on the request and use it for the entire account. This will be reflected in the EDI response document sent back to the supplier.
Duke Energy Consolidated Bill-Ready Billing Option
Bill Ready Billing is a billing option where the supplier calculates their charges and sends them to Duke Energy via an EDI transaction for presentation on Duke Energy's electric bill. To participate in Bill-Ready Billing a supplier must sign a Bill-Ready Billing Agreement with Duke Energy and abide by all Bill-Ready billing provisions in the Certified Supplier Tariff, Section X, page 3 of 4.
Purchase of Accounts Receivable (PAR)
A consolidated billing option where Duke Energy pays the supplier for their charges on the Duke Energy consolidated invoice at 100%. In order to participate in the PAR program, a supplier must sign an Accounts Receivable Purchase Agreement with Duke Energy and abide by all PAR provisions in the Certified Supplier Tariff.
With the dual billing option, Duke Energy and the certified supplier provide separate bills to end-use customers for their respective charges. Each billing party is responsible for calculating its respective charges, preparing and sending its own bill to the end-use customer (including any applicable taxes), receiving and processing the end-use customer’s payment, and remitting taxes to the appropriate taxing authorities.
Duke Energy will transmit the necessary meter reading information to the appropriate supplier electronically via electronic data interchange (EDI). Duke Energy and the certified supplier will use the same meter reading information to bill the end-use customer for the regulated Duke Energy distribution charges and the unregulated certified supplier commodity charges.
Duke Energy will calculate its charges using PUCO-approved tariff schedules.
The billing method and accuracy of the charges are the responsibilities of each billing party. In the event that Duke Energy revises or corrects the usage information used in billing the end-use customer, Duke Energy will inform the certified supplier of the change in usage information via EDI.
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Duke Energy can provide end-use customers who have selected a certified supplier with a budget billing option. Budget billing is available to end-use customers billed by either consolidated rate-ready billing, consolidated bill-ready billing, or dual billing. There are two separate budget billing plans available:
- The Quarterly Plan, in which the budget billed amount is adjusted four times each year
- The Annual Plan, which estimates the average annual energy usage and divides the amount by 11. Adjustments are made in the 6th and 12th months, with the 12th month being the settle-up month where the end-use customer has a zero balance when the asking amount is paid.
Payment Priorities and Budget Billing:
When end-use customer payments are received under the consolidated billing options, it has been established by the PUCO that the regulated services are paid first. Because of this, the budget billing payment will be applied to the actual regulated charges first. In those months where the regulated charges are more than the payment received, the certified supplier will not receive a payment. However, the certified supplier will be made whole for their charges by the settle up month.
Switching Certified Suppliers and Budget Billing:
When an end-use customer who is on budget billing switches from one certified supplier to another and the budget billing plan is not in the settle-up month, the account will continue in the budget billing cycle without interruption. The prior certified supplier would continue to receive payments over the next one to 11 months (worst case) as the payment application priority allows until the certified supplier is made whole.
Duke Energy’s current practice is to render bills regularly at monthly intervals, but bills may be rendered more or less frequently at Duke Energy’s option. A copy of Duke Energy's current meter reading schedule is in Appendix D: Meter Reading Schedule of this guidebook. The meter reading schedule is revised in December of each year.
Duke Energy's revised bill format conforms to the requirements of Customer Choice legislation. The bill contains a full disclosure of unbundled costs. Customer charges for distribution are listed separately from certified supplier charges.
Certified suppliers are responsible for providing a Generation Resource Mix statement to their own end-use customers in accordance with PUCO requirements.
Certified suppliers will not be able to add bill messages to the Duke Energy end-use customer bills except for notices of abandonment.
The PUCO mandates that a certified supplier must provide notice of abandonment on each billing statement rendered to its end-use customers beginning at least 90 days prior to the effective date of the abandonment. The certified supplier must continue to provide the notice on all subsequent billing statements until the service is abandoned.
Where Duke Energy is performing billing services for a certified supplier, Duke Energy will provide this notice on the billing statement. Duke Energy does not offer bill memo services for certified suppliers in any other instance. The certified supplier should contact its Duke Energy account manager to arrange for the abandonment bill message. Certified suppliers will pay a tariff-based fee for this bill message. Please see Appendix A: Certified Supplier Tariff in this guidebook for charges.
A certified supplier serving an end-use customer may request that a duplicate copy of the customer's electric bill be sent to the end-use customer. Certified suppliers will pay a tariff-based fee for the duplicate bill.
Instructions for requesting a duplicate bill can be found in the secured section of the certified supplier web page.
End-Use Customer Payments/Remittance
End-use customer bill payments are due on the date described on the bill as the last day to pay the net amount. The due date is 21 calendar days after the mailing of the bill unless amended by Duke Energy and approved by the PUCO.
Payment of consolidated bills or Duke Energy’s bill may be made at any commercial office of Duke Energy or at any Duke Energy authorized payment agency.
Duke Energy may require that an end-use customer who is not creditworthy tender payment by means of a certified or cashier's check, electronic funds transfer, cash, or other immediately available funds.
End-Use Customer Payment Processing/Remittance
The end-use customer is responsible for payment in full to Duke Energy for all of the Duke Energy and certified supplier charges when Duke Energy performs consolidated billing.
Duke Energy will remit payments received to the appropriate certified supplier for certified supplier charges when a payment is received on Duke Energy’ s consolidated bill. Duke Energy will use its best efforts to remit payments via Automated Clearing House (ACH) to the certified supplier within four business days after the funds are received by Duke Energy.
All end-use customer charges are grouped into categories and a payment priority is established for each. If a partial payment is received, Duke Energy will apply a payment priority classification. Payments will be applied in the following order:
- Prior distribution, standard offer generation, transmission, and regulated gas charges
- Current electric distribution and regulated gas charges
- Prior certified supplier charges
- Current certified supplier charges
- Other prior and current non-regulated charges
End-use customers who fail to pay gas and electric regulated utility charges to Duke Energy will be subject to Duke Energy’s late payment charge policy and the rules and regulations governing the current credit, collection and disconnection procedures in accordance with Sections 4901:1-10, 4901:1-17 and 4901:1-18 of the Ohio Administrative Code.
End use customers who fail to pay for Duke Energy's non-regulated products and services will be subject to Duke Energy's current collection procedure which can include a series of letters, retrieval of the product, and discontinuance of the service that is being provided to the end-use customer.
End-use customers who fail to pay for certified supplier's charges are in arrears to the certified supplier. The certified supplier is ultimately responsible for the collection of such unpaid non-regulated charges, except in the situation where Duke Energy is purchasing the certified supplier's receivables.
Duke Energy Billing/Payment Processing for Certified Suppliers
Duke Energy will submit an invoice to the certified supplier for all tariff-based services during the preceding calendar month, as well as any unpaid charges from prior month invoices. The Certified Supplier Tariff requires the certified supplier to pay Duke Energy's invoices within 10 calendar days of receipt. All payments must be made in immediately available funds, payable to Duke Energy.
Late Payment Charges
Interest on unpaid amounts will be an amount equal to 1.5% of the unpaid balance at the due date, calculated monthly.
Netting of End-Use Customer Payments and Certified Supplier Charges
If the certified supplier defaults and Duke Energy is performing consolidated billing for the certified supplier, Duke Energy reserves the right to retain payments collected from the end-use customers and apply the payments to Duke Energy's charge.
