Credit & Collections Trends 2013

February 12, 2013

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• Debt and agency management experience

• Scoring and segmentation approaches to reduce risk and manage costs

• Write Off Research - Data Exchange

• Low-income accounts and assistance programs

• Pre-paid electric programs

• Maintaining superior customer relations

Hot Trends

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• Moderator: Stephen Spizuoco, Vice President, Business Development, Equifax

• Charles Barton, Chief Financial Officer, Oklahoma Electric Cooperative

• Michelle LaWall, Supervisor, Credit and Collections, PPL Electric Utilities

• Julie DeSalvo, Manager, Credit and Remittance Operations, MidAmerican Energy

• Allison Rowden, Supervisor, Special Attention Operations, Portland General Electric

• Leon Broughton, Director, Billing and Revenue Assurance, Citizens Energy Group

Panel Participants

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Added one analyst late in 2011 to oversee Outside Collection Agencies for final bill collection. PPL EU uses three primary agencies and one secondary agency.

Approach: • Monthly teleconferences, singly and jointly with all agencies • Monthly comparison of top agency to other vendors • Champion / Challenger • Settlement Programs • Enhanced relationship with vendor – better oversight of PPL portfolio

Results: • 2012 results show a 4% lift in collection success due to added staff member,

resulting a offsets to write-off for closed accounts.

Next Steps: • Sweep of warehoused files for pilot on referral to tertiary collection

Debt and agency management experience from your peer utilities - Michelle

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• Each night every account that reaches its bill due date is scored for probability of payment.

• Twelve months of internal credit history are sent to an outside vendor.

• The vendor uses algorithms to predict customer behavior, based on prior experience with that customer.

• The score determines appropriate credit actions. • Allows for credit action only for those customers that

have shown risk.

Scoring and Segmentation to Reduce Risk and Manage Costs - Julie

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Write Off Types • Accounts that disconnected for nonpayment • Accounts that request a “Move-Out” Order

Two Strategies • Outside Collection Agencies • Automated Inside Collection – Data Exchange

NCTUE Data Exchange • Members • Process

Benefits • Recoveries • Deposits • Training • Fraud detection • Results @ Citizens Energy Group

Write Off Research - Data Exchange - Leon

About Portland General Electric

• 4,000-square-mile service area

• 829,000 customers • 44% of Oregonians

depend on PGE for electricity

• 52 cities served

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Relationships with Agencies • Regular meetings – two-way communication for feedback and ideas Improvements • Agency Hotline – quicker response • Agency Portal – easier to do business with PGE • Guidelines to help more families Pilots (past and future) • 2006 - New Start • Nov 2009 to Aug 2011 - 61-80 • Currently developing pilot for Fall 2013 and electronic funds transfer SB863 • PGE Governmental Affairs lobbied • Expires after 2013

Low-income accounts and assistance programs - Allison

Member’s Perspective Experience - No fees, daily billing, notifications Benefits - Empowered, budgeting, conservation Satisfaction - Happy, recommend service to others Cooperative’s Perspective Benefits - Provides alternatives, reduces calls Savings - Reduces write-offs, reduces staff Evolution - 12% to 20%, bad accts good accts

Pre-paid electric programs – Charles Oklahoma Electric Cooperative Prepaid

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Appendix – Panel Biographies

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Michelle LaWall Supervisor – Credit and Collection PPL Electric Utilities, the Pennsylvania-based electric utility subsidiary of PPL Corporation. LaWall is responsible for customer program and support functions, revenue collection and associated regulatory compliance, collection analytics, and Third-party collection initiatives.

LaWall started her PPL career in 1989, and has held several analytical and supervisory roles in the call center, telephony platform, and collection areas before being promoted to her current position in 2011.

She serves on the Board of the Northeast Credit and Collection Conference, as well as the Cultural Events Board of ArtsQuest, a nonprofit dedicated to presenting music, arts, cultural experiences and educational and outreach programs that aid in economic development, urban revitalization and community enrichment A native of Bethlehem, Pa., LaWall earned a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pa.

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Julie DeSalvo Manager Credit and Remittance Operations MidAmerican Energy Company Julie DeSalvo is the Manager of Credit and Remittance Operations for MidAmerican Energy Company in Davenport, Iowa. Julie oversees the Credit Department who are responsible for collections of active and finaled accounts and Remittance Processing that process all mail payments for MidAmerican. She has been with MidAmerican for 15 years, where her career started as a credit supervisor. Julie obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration and her Master’s Degree in Business Administration both from Saint Ambrose University. Julie is a past Chairperson for the National Association of Credit Managers (NACM) International Utility Group and is currently a counselor for NACM.

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Charles Barton Chief Financial Officer Oklahoma Electric Cooperative

Charles received his BBA in accounting from the University of Oklahoma in 1982, became a CPA in 1985 and earned his master’s in management in 1988 from Southern Nazarene University. He oversees member services, accounting, customer service, data processing and IT at the Norman, Okla.-based co-op. OEC was a recipient of a 2008 Cooperative Innovator’s award for a new prepaid program. The co-op has implemented meter data management and time-of-use rates for all residential and small commercial accounts.

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Allison Rowden Supervisor, Special Attention Operations Portland General Electric In this position, Allison’s department is responsible for the relationship with the consumer staff of the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Her department is responsible for the relationships with low income agencies and manages PGE’s Medical Certificate Program. Allison has been with Portland General Electric for nearly 15 years. She has worked in most areas of customer service, with supervisor positions in Credit and Collections, Billing, and the Contact Center. She is studying to complete her Bachelor’s Degree as of the Summer Term of 2013. Allison will be joining the board of Oregon Heat in October.

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Leon D. Broughton, CPA, CIA Director of Billing and Revenue Assurance Citizens Energy Group In this position, Mr. Broughton is responsible for the Bill to Cash process for CEG. His career includes 26 years in the Telecom and Utility Industries and a brief period in the manufacturing sector. The past 18 years have been with Citizens Energy Group managing a variety of responsibilities, including credit, field collections, billing, insurance, SOX compliance, Y2K IT project management, Auditing, etc. Leon is a graduate of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, Bloomington, Indiana. Leon is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor. Leon’s Board service includes Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Remittance Processing Services and the NCTUE. Leon enjoys baseball, specifically watching Atlantic 10 baseball and the University of Dayton Flyers.