Rate Segmentation

Every SA Type whose service agreements have their charges calculated with a rate must have one or more rates linked to it. These define which rates can be linked to the SA type's service agreements. If different service agreements have different valid rate combinations, you will need to split the SA types accordingly.

For example, look at the electric rates. If we assume:

the RES rates can only be used for residential customer,
the IND rates can only be used for industrial customers,
the COM rates can only be used for commercial customers,
the LAMP rates can only be used for lamp customers

Then you might want to set up a new SA type to indicate such. The advantage of doing this is that you get more control over which rates can be used on a given SA type. The disadvantage is that you proliferate SA types. Unfortunately, it's really a question of taste.


CIS Division/ SA Type	Service Type	Distribution Code	Revenue Class	Rates
CA/G-RES	Gas service	A/R-UTIL	R - residential	GALL-1
CA/G-COM	Gas service	A/R-UTIL	C - commercial	GALL-1
CA/G-IND	Gas service	A/R-UTIL	I - industrial	GALL-1
CA/W	Water service	A/R-UTIL	N/A	WALL-1
CA/E-RES	Electric service	A/R-UTIL	N/A	ERES-1, ERES-2
CA/E-COM	Electric service	A/R-UTIL	N/A	ECOM-1
CA/E-IND	Electric service	A/R-UTIL	N/A	EIND-1
CA/LAMP	Electric service	A/R-UTIL	N/A	ELAMP-1
CA/WW	Waste water service	A/R-UTIL	N/A	WWALL-1
CA/CABLE	Cable service	A/R-UTIL	N/A	CABLE

Warning:

Don't be too specific in your analysis in respect of rate segmentation because you could end up with a separate SA type for every rate (and you don't want this). We understand this is a very subjective warning, but we recommend that you start out with broad bands of rates that can be used on a SA type and narrow it down if you end up unhappy with the results. For example, you don't have to set up a separate SA type for low-income residential gas customers just because they have a special rate. Rather, you can leave your SA types as they are and treat low-income gas customers as a subset of your residential gas customers. For more information, refer to Setting Up Start Options.

Note:

Rate override. If a service agreement of this type may be linked to a terms of service record, you must also consider whether or not the rate schedule could be overridden by a template SA linked to the terms of service record. Refer to SA Type - Rate for information about the possible values for this field.