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Billing process

Closed and vacant site billing

Accounts keep billing customer, demand or minimum charges after a site closes, or a vacant unit is billed to the owner after a tenant took service.

How often we find it
Found in roughly 1 in 3 portfolios with closures or turnover in the past two years
Typical impact
Customer, minimum and ratcheted demand charges for every month after the stop date

When a store closes, a lease ends or a multifamily unit turns over, service must be stopped or transferred, and the instructions often do not reach the utility in a form it acts on. The account keeps billing. Even with no usage, a commercial account pays a monthly customer charge, sometimes a facilities or minimum charge, and on demand-metered schedules a ratchet based on the last year of peaks. Those charges can run for months before anyone notices, because the bills go to a central AP address that pays them automatically. The reverse problem shows up in multifamily portfolios: a vacant unit reverts to the owner's account, the new resident opens service, and the utility keeps billing the owner for the same meter. Closed accounts also hide credit balances and unreturned deposits. Sites sold to a new owner can stay in the old owner's name until the buyer opens service, so the seller pays for the buyer's usage.

How it happens

  • A stop-service request was made by phone and never confirmed in writing, or was entered with the wrong date.
  • The landlord or new tenant never opened service, so the utility kept the account in the former occupant's name.
  • A demand-metered account stopped using power but kept billing a ratchet based on its last 12 months of peaks.
  • A vacant multifamily unit reverted to the owner, and the owner's account kept billing after the new resident took service.
  • A sold property remained on the seller's account after closing.

How to detect it

  • Compare the site list from real estate or lease administration to every active utility account each month.
  • Flag accounts with near-zero usage that still carry customer, minimum or demand charges.
  • In multifamily portfolios, match owner-paid unit meters to move-in dates from the property management system.
  • Check final bills for credit balances and deposits that were never refunded.

Evidence the utility will accept

  • The written stop-service request or confirmation number, with the date
  • Lease termination, surrender or sale closing documents
  • Move-in records for the new resident or tenant
  • Bills issued after the stop or transfer date

Recovering the overcharge

We file with the utility using the dated stop request, lease surrender or sale documents, and request that the account be closed effective the original stop date with all subsequent charges reversed. Where no written stop request exists, utilities often still adjust from the date a new party took service or the date we can document the premises were vacated. We also request any deposit and final credit balance.

Questions we get asked

Often yes, but the utility may only adjust from a date you can document, such as the lease surrender or the new tenant's service start. Without any documentation, recovery may be partial.

On ratcheted schedules, billed demand can stay at a percentage of last year's peak even with almost no usage. Closing the account ends it; leaving it open does not.

Tie stop-service requests to the lease administration workflow and confirm closure in writing. Trace Global matches the site list to active accounts every month.

Find this error in your own bills.

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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