Your utility bills are wrong.
We file for the refund.
Trace Global checks every bill line across thousands of meters against the tariff, then recovers the overcharges. No recovery, no fee.
Store 0412, Columbus OH
Acct 3301-4478-21 · Aug 02 to Sep 01, 2026
- Customer charge$245.00
- Energy, on-peak$2,988.40
- Energy, off-peak$2,869.28
- Demand charge$3,617.00
- Riders & adjustments$524.91
- State & local tax$188.40
- Amount due$10,432.99
Billed on a small general service schedule after a 2024 remodel. Load profile qualifies for the large general service schedule with a lower demand rate.
- Billed demand charge
- $3,617.00
- Correct schedule demand charge
- $2,096.00
- Overcharge this bill
- $1,521.00
- Months inside refund window
- 24
Refund claim filed$36,504
- of multi-site utility spend we find overbilled on a first audit
- 3% to 7%of multi-site utility spend we find overbilled on a first audit
- refunds and credits returned to customers
- $61M+refunds and credits returned to customers
- of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part
- 94%of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part
- median time from claim filing to credit or check
- 47 daysmedian time from claim filing to credit or check
Twelve errors that repeat every month until someone files
Most overbilling is structural. A wrong rate class or multiplier is applied to every bill until the account is corrected and the back periods are claimed.
- 01Wrong rate schedule4% to 15% of the account's annual billRates & tariffs
- 02Demand ratchet errors5% to 20% of demand charges for the affected monthsDemand
- 03Power factor penalties2% to 8% of demand charges on affected accountsDemand
- 04Meter multiplier errorsOften 25% to 100% of the account's usage charges while the error lastsMetering
- 05Estimated reads never trued up3% to 12% of charges over the estimated periodMetering
- 06Duplicate bills and payments0.5% to 2% of total annual utility spendBilling process
- 07Sales tax on exempt usageThe full state and local tax rate on qualifying usage, often 4% to 8% of the billTaxes & fees
- 08Late fees and unreturned depositsDeposits of $2,000 to $50,000 per account plus 1% to 2% monthly late chargesBilling process
- 09Closed and vacant site billingCustomer, minimum and ratcheted demand charges for every month after the stop dateBilling process
- 10Sewer charges on evaporated water20% to 50% of sewer charges at sites with cooling towersWater & sewer
- 11Crossed metersOften the full difference between two tenants' bills, for months or yearsMetering
- 12TOU period misapplication2% to 10% of energy charges on the affected accountRates & tariffs
From bill stream to credited refund
BIG*20260902*4478210912***3301447821
N1*BT*STORE 0412 COLUMBUS
IT1*1*61200*KH*0.0960**SV*ENERGY
IT1*2*214*K1*16.9019**SV*DEMAND
MEA**MU*40 // meter multiplier
DTM*150*20260802 // service start
DTM*151*20260901 // service end
TDS*1078471Demand audit
One bad 15-minute read can set your demand charge for a year.
Ratchet clauses bill a share of your highest recent peak. When that peak came from a meter test, a commissioning spike or a crossed meter, every bill after it is overstated. We compare billed demand with interval data and claim the difference.
How the demand audit works- Billed peak
- 3,400 kW
- Operating peak
- 2,785 kW
- Ratchet exposure
- 11 months
Built for operators with hundreds of meters
The errors differ by industry. A grocer's refrigeration load trips different checks than a REIT's vacant units.
National and regional retailers with 50 to 2,000 stores whose utility bills are paid through AP or a bill-pay vendor with no rate audit.
Bills arrive from dozens of utilities
Each store may be served by a different utility, on a different schedule, in a different regulatory regime. Nobody on the finance team can check them all against a tariff.
Rate class drifts after remodels
A store that adds refrigeration, EV chargers or extended hours can outgrow the rate schedule it was placed on at opening. The utility rarely moves it on its own.
Closed and relocated stores keep billing
When a lease ends or a store moves, the old account can keep generating minimum charges or estimated bills for months before anyone notices.
AP pays what arrives
Approval is built around due dates and GL coding. A bill that is on time and within a normal range is paid, even when a multiplier or tax line is wrong.
- commercial accounts with a recoverable error
- 1 in 9commercial accounts with a recoverable error
- from bill access to first findings report
- 21 daysfrom bill access to first findings report
- of filed claims accepted in full or in part
- 94%of filed claims accepted in full or in part
Paying bills is not the same as checking them
Bill-pay vendors pay what the utility asks. Brokers buy supply. Neither recalculates delivery charges from the tariff.
| Capability | Trace Global | Bill-pay vendor | Energy broker | In-house AP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recalculates each bill from the tariff | ||||
| Checks demand, ratchet and power factor | ||||
| Files refund claims with the utility | ||||
| Recovers inside back-billing windows | ||||
| Catches duplicates and late fees | ||||
| Sales tax exemption studies | ||||
| Paid only from money recovered | ||||
| No change to how bills are paid |
A 410-store regional grocery chain
“We assumed the bills were fine because they were on time and in range. Seeing the tariff next to the bill for the same store changed how we think about utility spend.”
- overbilling identified across 46 claims
- $990,000
- refunds and credits received to date
- $884,000
- claims accepted in full or in part
- 41 of 46
- from bill access to first findings report
- 21 days
What is in your refund window?
An estimate from your footprint and the error rates we see in your industry.
- Annual utility spend
- $42.0M
- Meters in scope
- 600
- Typical refund window
- 24 months
- Ongoing savings, yearly
- $504K
Connects to the systems that already hold your bills
All integrations
Questions we get asked
Nothing. On the Recovery Audit plan there is no platform fee; our fee is a share of refunds and credits the utility actually issues. If no money comes back, you owe nothing.
No. We get read-only access to bills and portals, never change service or payment, and file claims through each utility's normal billing dispute process under your letter of authorization. Every claim carries the tariff citation and recalculated bills, so it reads as a correction request, not a complaint.
It depends on the utility and state. Most commercial refunds reach back 12 to 36 months under the utility's tariff or commission rules. Every month that passes before an audit is a month that falls out of the window, which is why the first findings report comes within about three weeks.
No. Bills keep flowing through your AP team or bill-pay vendor. We read a copy of the bill stream from EDI, portals, PDFs or your vendor's export.
Usually nothing beyond a service account for the ERP export, or none at all if you send PDFs or a bill-pay file. Most customers are connected in under a week.
Any utility that issues a bill. Our audits so far cover 186,000+ meters across 410 electric, gas, water and sewer utilities in all 50 states.
Find out what your utilities owe you.
Connect bills for up to 50 meters. Get the findings report in about three weeks. Pay nothing unless money comes back.
- from bill access to first findings report
- 21 daysfrom bill access to first findings report
- of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part
- 94%of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part