A 38-facility refrigerated warehouse network
A cold storage network recovers $1.07 million in demand and rate errors
38 facilities, 214 meters, 9 utilities, 7 states
- overbilling identified across 29 claims
- $1,200,000overbilling identified across 29 claims
- refunds and credits received to date
- $1,068,000refunds and credits received to date
- estimated annual savings from filed rate changes
- $410,000estimated annual savings from filed rate changes
- median time from claim filing to credit
- 47 daysmedian time from claim filing to credit
The challenge
Demand charges were the largest line on most facility bills. The operator's energy team tracked total cost per facility, but had no independent check that billed demand matched the load actually drawn.
Several facilities had been expanded in stages, and one had a documented metering fault two years earlier. The finance team suspected ratchet charges were still being carried from those events but could not prove it.
What we did
Collect interval data
We requested interval data from each utility for the 214 meters, starting with the 40 largest by annual spend.
Rebuild billed demand
We recalculated demand, ratchet floors, power factor and time-of-use periods from the tariff and compared each to the bill.
Test rate eligibility
Each facility's load profile was checked against every schedule available in its service area.
File with engineering evidence
Claims included the load shape, tariff language and the dates of the metering fault, addressed to each utility's billing review team.
Findings
| Error | What we found | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Demand ratchet errors | Ratchet floors set by a metering fault and by a startup spike, billed for months afterward. | $520,000 |
| Wrong rate schedule | Facilities billed on a general schedule when they met eligibility for a more favorable one. | $351,000 |
| Power factor penalties | Adjustments applied after capacitor banks were installed and commissioned. | $186,000 |
| TOU period misapplication | Peak periods applied to hours and holidays the tariff treats as off-peak. | $143,000 |
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