Summary

The Winter Averaging process is used to calculate an average consumption for UB customer accounts based on the billed consumption during selected billing periods. When bills are generated in the New Billing process (UB> New Billing), the calculated average is billed instead of the actual consumption.

In order to use the Winter Average process, you must set up the winter average months on the service rates and select how the Winter Average process will function on the UB Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup).

Step by Step

1     Set up the service rates to use in winter averaging.

• The billing periods that will be used in the winter averaging process need to be set up on the service rates. For example, if UB customer accounts should be billed the calculated winter average from November to February, those months need to be set up on the service rates.
• Open the Service Rate Maintenance window of a service rate you would like to set up for the winter averaging process. For example, if GAS service rate 001 should be billed using a calculated winter average during the winter months, open the Service Rate Maintenance window for service rate 001.
  • When opening a service rate, make sure to select the revision that applies if there are multiple revisions.
• Open the Winter Average/Taxes tab.
• Select the periods that should be billed using the calculated winter average rather than the actual consumption. For example, if the calculated winter average should be billed rather than actual consumption from November to February, check each month between November and February. The consumption on the meters during the billing periods selected will not be included on a billing, and customers will be billed using the Winter Average amounts. If a winter average has not been set up on a customer account with this service rate, only the minimum/flat rate on the service rate will be charged.
• Check the Multiply Consumption toggle if you would like the calculated winter average consumption to be multiplied by the EDU on the meter or the number of units on the lot when a billing is generated (UB> New Billing). The winter average consumption will be multiplied by the EDU/Lot Unit value before the service rate structure is applied to the consumption when the billing is calculated. For example, if the EDU is 1.1 and the calculated winter average consumption is 200, the winter average consumption will be multiplied by the EDU (220). The rate structure on the service rate will then be applied to the new consumption amount (220).
  • If the Use Lot Units toggle is not checked, the calculated winter average will be multiplied by the EDU value on the meter (UB> Maintenance> Account> Devices> Connections tab> EDU column). If the Use Lot Units toggle is checked, the calculated winter average will be multiplied by the number of units on the lot.
• Check the Cap Consumption toggle to bill the lesser amount of the actual bill or average consumption.
  • When a New Billing is generated, if the actual consumption is less than the calculated winter average amount, the customer will be billed the actual consumption amount. If the actual consumption is greater than the calculated winter average, the customer will be billed the winter average amount as usual.
• Click the Save button   on the Service Rate Maintenance window when complete.

2     Set up the Utility Billing module to process Winter Averages.

• Open the General tab on the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup).
• Check the Copy Winter Averages toggle if you want the effective winter average attached to a meter to copy onto a new meter when a change-out service request is processed.
  • When the change-out service request is created, the winter average calculation on the changed meter will be copied onto the new meter. The copied winter average will not be committed, so you can open the Winter Average tab on the Account Master Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Account> Winter Average) and modify the winter average calculation on the meter. When the change-out service request is committed (UB> Service Request> Commit), the winter average line item will also be committed.
  • Checking this toggle will not copy the winter average from a finaled account to the new account on a lot.
• Check the Allow Finals to Use Winter Average toggle if you would like to bill UB customer accounts using a calculated winter average. This only applies to accounts finaled during a winter average billing period and processed in a Winter Average batch.
  • If this toggle is not checked, the customer accounts will be billed using the actual consumption even if the account is being finaled during a winter average period.
• Open the Device tab.
  • The Winter Average fields are used to enter the default consumption amount for the Winter Averaging process. The default value will be applied to an account in the Winter Average process (UB> Winter Average> Generate) if there are less than two readings on the account during the winter average period. For example, if the winter average amount is being calculated on consumption from April to July but a new account has only one reading during that period, the account will be billed the default winter average amount.
  • When a Winter Average batch is being generated (UB> Winter Average> Generate), the default consumption amount can be modified either during the Generate step or after the winter average has been calculated using the Winter Average tab on the Account Master Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Account> Winter Average).
  • Enter the default winter average value in the Winter Average 1 field. Remember, this is a consumption amount (1000 units), not a billable amount ($25). The value entered in this field will populate in the Default column in UB> Winter Averaging> Generate when Winter Averages are generated and by default will be applied to customer accounts with less than two meter readings during the calculated winter averaging period.
    • The Winter Average 2 – 6 fields only apply if you have multiple usage periods. Usage periods are generally used to charge different rates for peak and non-peak usage. If there is a number greater than 1 in the Use Periods field, you are using usage periods. Enter a default winter average consumption amount for each usage period field.