Working with customers to reduce estimated bills

1. Working with customersto reduce estimated bills Melanie Werner, Project Manager Customer Metering PWWA 2017

2. We’re Australia’s largest water and wastewater service provider

3. We test the drinking water at650 homes each month, for more than 70 different water characteristics We treat more than 1.6 billion litres of wastewater a day through 25 wastewater systems We providestormwater services to about ½million people through 448 km of stormwater channels and pipes We deliver water, wastewater, some stormwater and some recycled water services to 4.9 million customers We deliver 1.7 billion litres of water each day to our customers Our services

4. Customer Bills Our residential customer bills are made up of a: Water service charge of $23 per quarter Wastewater service charge $149 per quarter Water usage charge –price signal to customers about their consumption, average 40kL = $82 Average total $254 per quarter

5. Our Meter Fleet

6. The situation in June 2013 … 50,000 meters unread 40,000 estimated bills Unhappy customers Increased costs to business Performance worsening Multiple contributing factors

7. CUSTOMER Long term: 5Q 17% Medium term: 2-4Q 50% Short term unread:1Q 33% UTILITY

8. Our approach: Customer research Pilot new options Review and refine offering Business case approval Offering to target customers

9. Customer Research Customer concerns Interest in solutions 20,000 surveys mailed 20% response rate

10. Customer Pain Points Not enough time or forget to return a reading Self read cards not always left or received Some customers unable to self read or locate meter Concern about leaks or unusual consumption going undetected Concern about receiving a large catch-up bill Less concern about bills being estimated

11. Sydney Water Customer Service Themes

12. Customer choices

13. Educate me, make it easy, support me:invitation letter, info sheets, response form

14. Pilot Project: Customer Choices

15. Customers with Actual vs Estimated Consumption: Pilot Group

16. Review and Refine Self reading offer limited to owner-occupiers of residential properties Self reading routes added to Meter Reading Contract; cards not offered Business hours appointments only for meter exchanges System automation for addition of AMR meter details Reminder letter discontinued

17. Offering to target customers 6,200 customers 38% overall response rate 1,500 remote read meters 700 self read customers “Other” responses and awareness impact

18. Full Offering: Customer Choices

19. Customers with Actual vs Estimated Consumption: Mailout Population

20. The situation in March 2017 38,000 meters unread 36,000 estimated bills Software improvements Contractor performance Resolved chronic problems

21. Lessons Learned Customer research critical for better understanding & solution design Pilot gave us invaluable data on costs and benefits Helped us to engage with contractors Allowed us to trial new processes and make improvements Full offering struck a balance between customer benefits and business needs Ran cost-effectively using existing internal and external resources Utilised the expertise and capability of our partners in reading & maintenance

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