Utility Bill Auditing for Manufacturers and Commercial Facilities

Why bills are wrong more often than people expect

A commercial or industrial bill combines many moving parts: a rate schedule with several charge types, meter readings scaled by a multiplier, billing periods that do not always match the calendar, supply charges from a retail supplier or the utility, taxes, and riders that change during the year. Each of those is entered, calculated or updated by people and systems at the utility and the supplier. Facilities change too: a production line is added, a meter is replaced, an account moves to a new rate. The bill keeps arriving, and nobody rechecks it against the tariff.

What we check

• Rate class and rate schedule: whether you are on the tariff that fits your load, and whether your operation has changed enough since you were placed on it that a different schedule would cost less.
• Meter data and multipliers: whether the meter constant used to scale readings is correct, and whether estimated reads were corrected afterwards.
• Billing determinants: how demand, energy and power factor are measured and billed in each period.
• Demand ratchets and minimums: whether a high month is carried into later bills as the tariff allows, and for no longer than it allows.
• Taxes and exemptions: whether sales and utility taxes are applied as they should be to your operation. Exemptions, for example for manufacturing, vary by state and utility, so we verify them rather than assume.
• Riders, surcharges and credits: whether each one belongs on your account and whether credits you qualify for are showing.
• Supply charges: whether supplier invoices match the contract price, term and pass-through terms.
• Duplicate and closed accounts: whether charges continue on meters or accounts that should have been closed.

A simple illustration

This example is illustrative and is not drawn from any client. Suppose a meter's multiplier should be 40 and the utility's billing system has 80. Every kilowatt-hour and kilowatt on that meter is billed at twice the true amount, month after month. The bill looks normal because it is consistent. Only a comparison against the meter data and the tariff reveals it.

What you get

A written list of findings. Each one is tied to the bill line and to the tariff section or contract term that supports it, with the period affected and the correct treatment. That turns a dispute with the utility or supplier into a documented request instead of a complaint. Recovery periods and dispute procedures depend on your state and utility, so we note the applicable process for each finding.

What we need

Recent bills for each account, ideally 12 to 24 months. Where available, interval data from your utility, and your supplier contract if you buy from a retail supplier. We analyze them against your tariff.

Who it fits

Manufacturers, cold storage operators, commercial real estate and other facilities with meaningful energy spend. Facilities with several meters or accounts, recent expansions or equipment changes, or a long gap since the last tariff review are the most likely places to find something worth disputing.

Common questions

First step

The first step is a no-cost forensic analysis of your bills and data, to see whether there is enough opportunity to go further.