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2. Customer Assistance Plan. Having customers contact us as soon as they know they have a problem paying their billWe will work with them to keep their lights onGiving customers more time to pay their billsPayment Arrangements and ExtensionsUp to 3 months on past due balancesDeposit PolicyNo d
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1. Southern California Edison“Serving our Special Needs Community” Linda Yamauchi, Manager Consumer Affairs
2. 2 Customer Assistance Plan Having customers contact us as soon as they know they have a problem paying their bill
We will work with them to keep their lights on
Giving customers more time to pay their bills
Payment Arrangements and Extensions
Up to 3 months on past due balances
Deposit Policy
No deposit required at time of reconnect for CARE customers
3. 3 Customer Assistance Plan (Cont’d) Providing dollars to help pay bills
Energy Assistance Fund (EAF)
Up to $100 to qualified residential customers
Funded by donations from SCE employees, shareholders, and customers
Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)
Provides payment assistance and other energy saving services to qualified residential customers
Providing discounts through income-qualified programs
CARE, FERA, EMA, etc.
4. 4 SCE Consumer Affairs Department Identifies and responds to the problems, needs, and concerns of our elderly, critical care, and disabled customers
SPECIAL PROGRAMS & SERVICES
Medical Baseline Program
Additional energy at lowest rate for households using electrically powered medical equipment
Doctor certification required
Good Neighbor Program
Referrals from field or call center employees of customers who need special assistance
Consumer Affairs provides referrals to appropriate agencies for follow-up
5. 5 “Special Needs” Credit Assistance
Customers with special profiles (elderly, critical care, disabled, etc.) who do not respond to the 48 hour notice of disconnection are personally contacted by Consumer Affairs
Pilot doing outbound calls to customers profiled as TTY users
Extensions/Payment Arrangements made if needed
If no answer, after repeated phone calls - we may refer to appropriate agency or request field visit
Special Notification
In addition to the notification card which is sent to all customers before a planned outage, customers on life-support equipment are given a personal courtesy call by Consumer Affairs to remind them about the outage and to have a back-up plan
6. 6 SCE’s 2009 General Rate Case Decision Adopted a Settlement Agreement jointly proposed by SCE and Disability Rights Advocates (DisabRA) which included funding for a number of actions to help customers with disabilities
Improving access to facilities
11 Service Centers
Authorized Payment Agencies
List of accessible APAs posted on SCE’s website: SCE.com
SCE offering rebates to eligible APAs to make improvements
Currently, about 200 or 60% of agencies are compliant
7. 7 SCE/DisabRA Agreement – 2009 GRC Website enhancements to SCE.com
Skip Navigation
Providing a method of skipping through sections of navigation to allow those using assistive technologies to navigate the main content of the page
Alternative text on images since screen readers can’t understand images
Color contrast to help people with color blindness or other visual impairments
Closed caption for videos to allow hearing impaired to read what is being said
8. 8 SCE/DisabRA Agreement – 2009 GRC SCE.com enhancements (cont’d)
Keyboard access for users who have difficulty maneuvering a mouse
Large font versions of income qualified applications
Ability to enlarge the viewing size of your pdf bill on My Account
Preferred means of contact for medical baseline/life support customers during emergency outages
Enlarged bill formats upon request
Bills in Braille being developed
9. 9 SCE/DisabRA Agreement – 2009 GRC Access to pedestrian rights-of-way during utility construction to reflect industry guidelines
Utility pole surveys to determine to what extent SCE’s poles might pose accessibility barriers to persons with vision or mobility disabilities
10. 10 Partnerships and Collaborations Hospitals and Health Care Facilities
Provide information and in-service training
Medical Baseline information
Income-qualifying programs
Senior Organizations
Provide and obtain information
At events and conferences
Through newsletter articles
School Districts
Provide information on services and income qualified programs
In-language
11. 11 Partnerships and Collaborations (Cont’d) Community Based Organizations
Provide information and services to the clients
Independent Living Centers
Community & Senior Services of LA County
Collaboratives:
Win for SCE, clients, and organizations/agencies
San Gabriel Valley Disability Collaborative
San Gabriel Valley Health Council
Senior Services Alliance
Multi Disciplinary Team (LA County)
12. 12 SCE Consumer Affairs Contacts:
Elaine MacDonald - Outreach Manager
626 302-8628
Salvador Ramirez – Outreach Program Manager
626 302-2474
Linda Yamauchi – Manager, Consumer Affairs
626 302-2719
Please let us know how we can better serve you!