Municipal Utilities: Instalments, Meter Readings and Moving in Chat

When a utility asks its customers to read their meters and sends out the annual bills shortly afterwards, the volume in customer service goes up. The questions are much the same from one household to the next: how high should my monthly instalment be, where do I submit my meter reading, what do I need to do when I move, why does my bill show an estimated consumption? Part of this can be answered from pages a municipal utility publishes anyway: price sheets, supplementary terms, moving-house leaflets, the explanation of the bill. Another part depends on the individual contract and belongs in the customer portal or with a person. This article shows where that line runs, what the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG) says about instalments, meter readings, bills and moving, and why an assistant refers a grid fault to the grid operator instead of taking it on itself.

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Labels in the illustration

• Customer reports a move in chat
• Which contract?
• Shown on the bill, Sec. 40 (2) EnWG
• Basic supply
• Special contract
• Termination with two weeks’ notice
• Sec. 20 (1) StromGVV and GasGVV
• The termination must be in text form
• Sec. 20 (2) StromGVV and GasGVV
• Confirmation without delay after receipt
• stating the end of the contract, Sec. 20 (2)
• Extraordinary termination, six weeks’ notice
• on moving out or later, Sec. 41b (5) EnWG
• Right lapses if offered within two weeks
• continuation on existing terms, supply possible there
• Confirmation within one week of receipt
• stating the end of the contract, Sec. 41b (1) EnWG
• Assistant: explains both routes from the leaflet and hands the termination itself to a person
• Simplified from EnWG, StromGVV and GasGVV; the assistant is not meant to assess deadlines in an individual case.

Moving with a municipal utility: which contract, which notice?

What reaches customer service at a municipal utility

For its customers, a municipal utility is often several things at once: electricity supplier, gas supplier, sometimes water supplier, and not infrequently, through a sister company, operator of the local grid as well. For the customer these roles blur. They dial the same number whether they want to change their instalment, report a move or pass on a power cut. Customer service therefore receives matters that legally belong in very different places, and many of them arrive in batches: after the meter reading cards go out, many households ask at the same time where the meter number is printed; after the annual bills go out, why the instalment has gone up. How such peaks can be absorbed in chat is described in the article on handling enquiry peaks in high season.

The table does not separate by difficulty but by access. What is in the middle column applies to every customer and is in a document the utility has published itself. What is on the right requires someone who knows the contract, can reliably identify the person or makes a decision. An assistant on the public website does not usually have that access and should not pretend to.

Public rule or individual contract

The basis for the middle column is a well-maintained knowledge base. In XICBOT, answers are produced from the retrieved context, not from the general knowledge of the language model, and an answer usually carries a source reference that points to the passage it comes from; how often that succeeds is shown by the measurement at the end of this article. For an energy supplier this matters because rules differ between basic supply and special contracts, between electricity and gas, and from one supplier to the next. An answer drawn from a model's general knowledge often sounds plausible and still does not match the terms of this particular utility. With the source reference, the customer can check the price sheet or the supplementary terms, and customer service can see what the answer is based on. The knowledge base typically includes these documents:

• Price sheets for basic supply and special contracts, each with the date from which they apply, separately for electricity and gas.
• General and supplementary terms with the rules on instalments, billing, termination and payment methods.
• Moving-house leaflet with the details needed to register a move-out and move-in, and a reference to the form.
• Meter reading notes: where the meter number and reading are found, how a dual-rate meter is read and which channels can be used to submit the reading.
• Explanation of the bill: a sample bill with the individual line items and terms.
• Contacts: customer service, the customer portal and the grid operator's fault hotlines for electricity and gas, kept separate and with their hours of validity.

Adjusting the instalment: explaining the rule

After an annual bill, one of the most frequent questions is: why has my instalment gone up, and can I reduce it? For household customer contracts outside basic supply, the Energy Industry Act sets the yardstick: an agreed advance payment or instalment is based on the consumption of the previous billing period or on the average consumption of comparable customers (Section 41b (3) EnWG). For basic electricity supply, a parallel rule is set out in Section 13 (1) StromGVV: the instalment is to be calculated pro rata on the basis of consumption in the most recently billed period. In both cases the rule contains an opening in the customer's favour.

This leads to a clear division of labour. The assistant explains from this utility's terms how the instalment is calculated and names the route by which customers report lower consumption, for example the customer portal or a form. It does not calculate a new amount and does not promise a reduction, because whether consumption is credibly lower is decided by the supplier on the basis of the contract data. Nor does it assess whether an instalment is already due in one's own case. In XICBOT this falls under the fixed block on legal advice: it is an instruction to the language model in the system instruction and covers the assessment of an individual case as well as statements on which deadline applies in one's own case or whether it has been met. The assistant therefore refers to the payment terms the supplier has published and to the customer account, which shows the date of one's own instalment. For context, the statutory minimum: invoice amounts and instalments fall due no earlier than two weeks (Section 40c para. 1 EnWG) after receipt of the payment request.

Submitting meter readings at reading time

How consumption is determined for billing is governed by Section 40a EnWG. The supplier may use readings from the metering point operator or grid operator, read the meter itself or, provided the consumption data are not transmitted remotely, require the customer to read it (Section 40a (1) EnWG). With a smart metering system, the values from the metering point operator or grid operator are to be used as a priority. Household customers can object to self-reading in an individual case if it is unreasonable for them; the supplier must then read the meter itself and may not charge a separate fee for it. The bill must state how a meter reading used was obtained. On the reading itself, an assistant can typically explain from the supplier's documents:

• Where the meter number is printed: on the meter itself, on the reading card and on the last bill, as the leaflet describes.
• Which value is meant: for a dual-rate meter both registers, for a modern metering device the display the leaflet names.
• Which channels are used: customer portal, form on the website, reply card; the assistant points to the channel instead of accepting the reading itself.
• By when to submit: the period stated in the letter or on the reading card, where it has been published. This is a date set by the supplier, which the assistant passes on with its source, not an assessment of a statutory deadline.
• What happens without a reading: that consumption may then be estimated and the bill states this explicitly.

Under these conditions, estimation is provided for by law: if a customer does not submit readings despite being obliged to, or if the supplier cannot determine actual consumption for other reasons for which it is not responsible, the bill may be based on an estimate of consumption that takes due account of the actual circumstances (Section 40a (2) EnWG). The bill must then show the estimate in a visually highlighted way and explain it free of charge on request. There is a practical reason why the assistant should not accept the meter reading itself in chat: in a public chat it is usually not possible to check whether meter number, customer number and person belong together. A wrongly assigned reading ends up on someone else's bill. The safe route is the supplier's form or portal, to which the assistant refers.

Moving: move-out, move-in and notice periods

When someone moves, the answer depends on the contract they are in. For supply contracts outside basic supply there is an extraordinary right of termination on a change of residence: household customers can terminate with six weeks (Section 41b para. 5 EnWG) notice, effective on the move-out date or a later date. The right lapses if the existing supplier offers in text form within two weeks (Section 41b para. 5 EnWG) of receiving the termination to continue the contract at the new residence on the existing terms, and supply there is possible. That is why the law requires the customer to state their future address or the identification number of the new point of supply in the termination.

Basic supply is simpler: the basic supply contract can be terminated with two weeks (Section 20 StromGVV) notice, and the termination must be in text form; for gas the same period of two weeks is set out in Section 20 GasGVV. Anyone who moves into a flat and draws electricity without having concluded a supply contract is usually supplied by the local basic supplier, either in basic supply or in substitute supply, for which the basic supplier may publish separate prices (Section 38 EnWG); which of the two applies is a legal question in the individual case. If the basic supply contract comes about through the withdrawal, the customer must notify the basic supplier of it without delay in text form (Section 2 (2) StromGVV). For the assistant this means: it explains both routes from the supplier's leaflet and first clarifies whether the customer is in basic supply or on a special contract. That is shown on the bill, because it must state whether supply took place within or outside basic supply (Section 40 (2) EnWG). For the notification itself, the assistant names the details listed in the leaflet:

• Move-out date and the previous address with the point of consumption.
• Meter number and meter reading on the day the keys are handed over, separately for electricity and gas.
• New address for the final bill and, if desired, for continued supply.
• Customer number or contract account, so that the notification is assigned to the right contract.
• Move-in date and meter reading at the new home if the customer stays with the same supplier there.

Explaining the bill in plain terms

On bills the law is unusually clear. Bills for energy supply must be simple and comprehensible and must be explained to the final customer comprehensibly and free of charge on request (Section 40 (1) EnWG). Section 40 (2) EnWG lists what must be shown separately, including the contract term and the applicable prices, the next possible termination date and the notice period, the responsible metering point operator and the grid operator's code number, and, for a consumption bill, the opening and closing meter readings, the consumption determined and the way in which the meter reading was obtained. An assistant can explain these components using the supplier's sample bill, without seeing the individual customer's bill:

• Energy price and standing charge: what depends on consumption and what is charged regardless of consumption, with the figures from the price sheet.
• Meter readings and how they were obtained: whether the meter was read, the reading was submitted by the customer or it was estimated.
• Instalments set off: how instalments paid are deducted from the annual total and how an additional payment or a credit arises.
• Taxes, levies and network charges: which charges the bill shows separately and where they appear on the price sheet.
• Consumption comparison: how to read the comparison with the same period of the previous year and with comparable customer groups.
• Dispute resolution: which body can be approached in a dispute about a bill, as named on the bill.

The law also sets fixed rules on timing. Whether one of these deadlines was met in one's own case is not assessed by the assistant: in XICBOT, the fixed block on legal advice instructs the language model not to assess an individual case and not to judge which deadline applies in the customer's case or whether it has been met. Such a question goes to customer service together with the conversation history; where the supplier sets out the deadlines in its documents, the assistant states them with that passage as the source. For maintaining those documents, here is the overview: billing takes place in periods that may not exceed one year (Section 40b para. 1 EnWG), and the supplier must offer all customers monthly, quarterly or half-yearly billing. The bill must be provided no later than six weeks (Section 40c para. 2 EnWG) after the end of the billing period, within three weeks (Section 40c para. 2 EnWG) for monthly billing, and the final bill after a move-out no later than six weeks after the end of the supply relationship. A credit must be set off against the next instalment or paid out within two weeks (Section 40c para. 3 EnWG).

Tariff changes and price changes

Two limits apply to tariff questions. The first concerns the prices themselves: an assistant only gives prices that are on the stored price sheet, together with the date from which they apply. If a price is missing, it says so instead of estimating it. The second concerns the recommendation: which tariff is cheaper for a household depends on its own consumption, the contract term and the conditions. The assistant sets out the published tariffs side by side and explains their conditions; the decision is made by the customer, after a conversation with customer service if they wish.

A price change adds a statutory duty for the supplier, and here too the law distinguishes between basic supply and special contracts. Where a supplier has reserved the right in the contract to make unilateral changes, customers must be informed of price changes no later than two weeks, and household customers no later than one month (Section 41 para. 5 EnWG), before the change takes effect. In basic supply, price changes take effect only at the start of a month and only after public announcement, which must be made at least six weeks (Section 5 para. 2 StromGVV) in advance; at the same time the basic supplier sends a letter to its customers and publishes the change on its website. For gas the same rule applies under Section 5 (2) GasGVV. In both cases the customer may terminate without notice with effect from the date the change takes effect (Section 41 para. 5 EnWG, Section 5 (3) StromGVV and GasGVV). For the assistant this mainly means maintenance: the new price sheet belongs in the knowledge base no later than the announcement, marked with the date from which it applies, and the old one marked with its end of validity; otherwise it will quote the wrong price after the effective date. What such a maintenance process looks like is described in the article on keeping the knowledge base up to date.

Grid faults: referring to the grid operator

When the power goes out, many customers call the supplier whose name is on the bill. The grid operator, however, is responsible for the fault. The Electricity Basic Supply Ordinance draws the consequence: in the event of an interruption or irregularities in supply resulting from a fault in grid operation or metering operation, the basic supplier is released from its obligation to perform (Section 6 (3) StromGVV). On request it must inform the customer without delay of the facts connected with the cause on the part of the grid operator, insofar as they are known to it or can reasonably be clarified by it; but it cannot fix the fault. If the grid belongs to a sister company of the utility, that does not change who is responsible; the fault hotline is then often a separate number. The assistant gives it from the knowledge base, separately for electricity and gas, and does not take the fault report itself.

Protecting contract data and handing over cleanly

Customer number, meter number, consumption, bank details: at energy suppliers, even simple matters touch contract data. Processing them can usually be based on the supply contract, because it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party (Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR). But that only covers what is actually needed for the matter; personal data must be limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes of processing (Article 5 (1) (c) GDPR). For the public chat this results in a sparing approach: the assistant only asks for what it needs for a handover and refers everything account-related to the customer portal, where the customer logs in. Where the conversation data are processed is set out under data protection and hosting.

• No bank details in the chat. A new direct debit mandate or changed account details belong in the portal or the designated form.
• No account information without login. Open items, instalment amount and payments received are in the customer portal; the assistant names the way there.
• Handover by responsibility. Objections to a bill go to billing, payment arrangements to receivables management, grid questions to the grid operator.
• Pass on the history. Anyone who is handed over should not have to repeat their question; the handover contains the conversation so far. How this works in XICBOT is shown on the page for the support assistant.
• Callback instead of a queue. Anyone who prefers the phone leaves a callback request with the matter and a time window; how it is captured completely is described in the article on callback requests in chat.

Introducing it before reading time

The sensible time to introduce it is before the next batch of reading cards goes out, not in the middle of the reading period. That leaves time to gather the documents and to check the answers against real questions before the volume rises. A sensible sequence has five steps:

• Record the dates of the reading period. When the reading cards go out, the deadline for replies and when the annual bills are sent; these determine from when the assistant should be ready and which questions to expect in which week.
• Gather the documents. Cover letter and reading card with the submission period, meter reading notes, sample bill, price sheets with validity, terms, moving-house leaflet, contacts and fault hotlines.
• Set limits and handover routes. Which questions the assistant explains, which it directs to the portal and which it hands over, following the table above; also who deals with objections, payment plan requests and termination questions, and which in-house terms should additionally lead to a handover.
• Test with the questions from the last reading period. Run through phone notes and emails from the weeks after the last reading cards and the last bills went out, for example on dual-rate meters, estimated readings and higher instalments.
• Evaluate after launch. Which questions remained unanswered is shown by the conversation analytics; the next addition to the knowledge base follows from that.

How reliably an assistant stays bound to its sources can be measured instead of asserted. In our own measurement series 42 of 48 answers carried a source reference; the count covered questions whose answer is in the knowledge base, and six carried no source reference. Why this reference matters to customers is described in the article on citing sources in chat answers. If you would like to see how this looks with your price sheets and leaflets, get in touch.

Frequent questions