Service Quality Indicators

Service Quality Indicators (SQIs) hold FortisBC accountable

In 2003, the BC Utilities Commission approved a long-term rate agreement that FortisBC Energy Inc. (then Terasen Gas Inc.) negotiated with its stakeholders. This agreement includes a commitment to maintaining specified levels of service as measured by Service Quality Indicators (SQIs).

SQIs have become common in multi-year regulatory agreements across North America to ensure the utility maintains the quality of its monopoly services. The FortisBC SQIs that were negotiated as part of our current rate agreement reflect areas of service that customer representatives told us are important and should not be denigrated in favour of achieving financial objectives.

FortisBC has 10 SQIs that we measure and compare against benchmarks on an annual basis. Also included are two directional indicators that do not have benchmarks but are designed to give an understanding of trends that may develop in these areas relating to customer service.

See the 10 FortisBC Inc. Service Quality Indicators and how they are measured.

See the two FortisBC Inc. Directional Indicators and how they are measured.

Current results

We measure the SQI results and post the results here on a quarterly basis. View the SQI quarterly results.

What happens with the SQI measures?

Results from the SQI measures are compared against the benchmarks at the annual review in November. Results for Directional Indicators are also submitted for review.

We also have two meetings per year with our Customer Advisory Council to ensure we are communicating and updating customers and their representatives on our progress in meeting these levels of service.

Service Quality Indicators and benchmarks explained

Emergency Response Time
(Response Time Dispatched to Site for Emergency Calls)

Benchmark: 21.1 minutes

Tracks the average length of time after notification for a qualified FortisBC representative to arrive on the scene of a gas emergency (i.e. a pulled main or a situation where gas is blowing) at any location on the FortisBC system both during and after working hours.
Speed of answer – emergency
(Per cent responses by a Person within 30 seconds – Emergency Calls)
Benchmark: 95%;

The amount of time it takes for the telephone to be answered is a common service quality indicator. The benchmark of 95 per cent is based on historical averages.
Speed of answer – non-emergency
(Per cent responses by a Person within 30 seconds – Non-Emergency Calls)
Benchmark: 75%

This measure tracks the percentage of responses by a person within 30 seconds for non-emergency calls including general, bill inquiries and service applications. The benchmark is based on historical averages.
Transmission system integrity
(Transmission system annual reportable incidents)
Benchmark: 2

This indicator covers several different kinds of incidents that are reported to government. It is noted that some government agencies have changed their interpretation of a reportable incident and this is likely to increase the number of incidents reported under this SQI during the 2004-2007 PBR period.
A) Residential & commercial customer billing activity
(Index of customer bills produced not meeting criteria)
Benchmark: An index score using a simple average of the three results (5.0 or less is desirable).

This SQI contains three performance measures that are included together as sub-measures and combined to form a single service quality indicator. These sub-measures are generally described as accuracy, timeliness and completion. The tolerance requirements for the first measure are significantly higher than the second and third, 99.9% versus 95%. As such, in order to align these sub-measures, an Adjustment Factor is used. The objective is to achieve a score of 5.0 or less.

B) Industrial customer billing activity
(Per cent of transportation/industrial customer bills accurate)
Benchmark: 99.5%

This service quality indicator tracks the accuracy of billing for industrial customers.
Meter exchange appointment activity
(Per cent of appointments met for meter exchange)
Benchmark: 92.2%

This service quality indicator tracks the per cent of appointments met for meter exchange.
Industrial meter measurement
(Industrial meter measurement first report under 10%)
Benchmark: 90.0%

This SQI tracks the percent of time when the deviation is less than 10% from when industrial gas usage was first reported to when it is considered billable. Industrial Shipper Agents are interested in both their daily-balanced groups and their monthly-balanced groups. This SQI for Industrial Meter Measurement contains both an accuracy measure (percent deviation) and a frequency measure, applied to both daily and monthly groups on a GJ-weighted basis. Customers who do not provide FortisBC with a metering phone line are not included in this measure.
Residential & commercial customer satisfaction
(Independent customer satisfaction survey)
Benchmark: to be compared to historic trends
This measure tracks customer satisfaction using four surveys: a quarterly residential survey, annual large commercial survey, annual builder/developer survey and annual small commercial survey. In order to arrive at the Service Quality Indicator for the Independent Customer Satisfaction Survey, these surveys are weighted as follows: 75% Residential, 10% Large Commercial, 10% Builder/Developer and 5% Small Commercial. High gas cost volatility and other events beyond the control of FortisBC can influence this SQI. No benchmark target has been established but the results will be compared to prior years' experience and trends assessed, recognizing the impact of uncontrollable events.
Residential & commercial customer satisfaction
(Number of customer complaints to BCUC)
Benchmark: to be compared to historic trends
This indicator tracks the number of customer complaints submitted to the BCUC where the Commission then asks FortisBC respond in writing. High gas cost volatility and other events beyond the control of FortisBC can influence the number of complaints to the BCUC, so this measure will be compared to available history recognizing the impact of uncontrollable events.
Industrial customer satisfaction
(Number of prior period adjustments)
Benchmark: to be compared to historic trends
This service quality indicator tracks the number of prior period adjustments for Industrial Transportation Service customers. A prior period adjustment is a billing inaccuracy that is identified after a bill has been issued; if this occurs, the bill is adjusted with any necessary corrections.

Directional Indicators

Two of the Service Quality Indicators from previous years were not effective as measures but they are included as Directional Indicators.

Number of third party damages
FortisBC continues its efforts in preventing third party damages to the distribution system. The number of third party damages is tracked and reported as a Directional Indicator, with no target or benchmark level of performance.
Leaks per kilometer of distribution mains
The number of leaks detected is to a degree a measure of system integrity. However, the number of leaks detected is also correlated with leak survey frequency and as such, performance incentives to reduce levels could lead to undesirable behaviour i.e. lengthening the frequency between surveys in order to reduce the number of leaks detected. Each year approximately one-fifth of the Distribution System is surveyed for leaks. The number of leaks found will vary, in the short term, more because of the condition of the portion of the system being surveyed in the given year than it will be affected by the quality of the current maintenance program. This statistic is a measure of maintenance effectiveness and is only valid over a much longer time horizon; probably 15 to 25 years. This measure will continue to be tracked and reported as a Directional Indicator, with no benchmark.