Required: 1. Determine the amount of difference in the customer's bill from the prior month and from the current month last year. (Negative amounts should be indicated with minus sign. Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
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ISBN:9781259964947
Author:Libby
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Chapter1: Financial Statements And Business Decisions
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For several years many utilities have employed regression analysis to forecast monthly utility usage by
residential customers using weather forecasts, the number of holidays, the number of days in the month,
and other factors. For example, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (CDPUC) has
determined that regression, properly used, can accurately predict natural gas usage. Most public gas
utilities serving Connecticut have reported levels of accuracy from 4% to 10% using regression. One
company, Dominion Natural Gas Company of Ohio, uses this approach not to forecast but to explain to
customers why their natural gas bills have gone up or down compared to the prior month, and also
compared to the same month of the prior year. The bill shows total MCF (thousand cubic feet of natural gas)
used by the customer for that month and why the total MCF usage has changed, based on three factors:
1. Change in temperature: each degree increase in temperature causes an increase in the number of
MCFs consumed. The relationship between the change in temperature and the usage of MCF is not
linear, but the monthly bill shows the average change in temperature for the month and the increase or
decrease in MCF related to that change.
2. Number of billing days in the period.
3. The residual, the change in usage by the customer that is not attributable to temperature or the number
of days in the billing period.
A customer of Dominion has used 13.7 MCF in December and is charged $12.50 per MCF for a total bill
that month of $171.25. The following data are available to compare the current month's weather and billing
period to the prior month and to the same month last year:
Usage Factors
Weather
Number of billing days
Customer-controlled usage
Current Month vs. Last Month
3 degrees cooler; +2.5 MCF
5 more days; +0.5 MCF
+.9 MCF
Current Month to Last December
8 degrees warmer; -3.5 MCF
1 less day; -0.1 MCF
-1.8 MCF
Required:
1. Determine the amount of difference in the customer's bill from the prior month and from the current
month last year. (Negative amounts should be indicated with minus sign. Round your answers to 2
decimal places.)
Usage Factors
Current Month vs. Last
Month
$ Amount
Change
Current Month vs. Last
December
$ Amount
Change
Weather
Number of billing days
Customer-controlled usage
Total change
3 degrees cooler; +2.5 MCF
5 more days; +0.5 MCF
+0.9 MCF
8 degrees warmer; -3.5 MCF
1 less day; -0.1 MCF
-1.8 MCF
Transcribed Image Text:For several years many utilities have employed regression analysis to forecast monthly utility usage by residential customers using weather forecasts, the number of holidays, the number of days in the month, and other factors. For example, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (CDPUC) has determined that regression, properly used, can accurately predict natural gas usage. Most public gas utilities serving Connecticut have reported levels of accuracy from 4% to 10% using regression. One company, Dominion Natural Gas Company of Ohio, uses this approach not to forecast but to explain to customers why their natural gas bills have gone up or down compared to the prior month, and also compared to the same month of the prior year. The bill shows total MCF (thousand cubic feet of natural gas) used by the customer for that month and why the total MCF usage has changed, based on three factors: 1. Change in temperature: each degree increase in temperature causes an increase in the number of MCFs consumed. The relationship between the change in temperature and the usage of MCF is not linear, but the monthly bill shows the average change in temperature for the month and the increase or decrease in MCF related to that change. 2. Number of billing days in the period. 3. The residual, the change in usage by the customer that is not attributable to temperature or the number of days in the billing period. A customer of Dominion has used 13.7 MCF in December and is charged $12.50 per MCF for a total bill that month of $171.25. The following data are available to compare the current month's weather and billing period to the prior month and to the same month last year: Usage Factors Weather Number of billing days Customer-controlled usage Current Month vs. Last Month 3 degrees cooler; +2.5 MCF 5 more days; +0.5 MCF +.9 MCF Current Month to Last December 8 degrees warmer; -3.5 MCF 1 less day; -0.1 MCF -1.8 MCF Required: 1. Determine the amount of difference in the customer's bill from the prior month and from the current month last year. (Negative amounts should be indicated with minus sign. Round your answers to 2 decimal places.) Usage Factors Current Month vs. Last Month $ Amount Change Current Month vs. Last December $ Amount Change Weather Number of billing days Customer-controlled usage Total change 3 degrees cooler; +2.5 MCF 5 more days; +0.5 MCF +0.9 MCF 8 degrees warmer; -3.5 MCF 1 less day; -0.1 MCF -1.8 MCF
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