How to run a rate schedule eligibility review
Rate schedule assignment is the single decision that sets how every kWh and kW on an account is priced. It is made when service begins and is rarely revisited, while the site's load changes with remodels, equipment upgrades and operating hours. An eligibility review compares what each account looks like now to what its schedule was designed for, and to the schedules next to it. Done once a year, it catches drift before it becomes a multi-year overcharge.
For energy managers, facilities teams and finance analysts · 7 min read
- 1
List accounts and schedules
From the account inventory, list every commercial account with its utility, schedule code, billing demand and annual kWh.
- 2
Retrieve each tariff
Download the current tariff for each schedule code and for its neighbors in the same customer class. Read the availability or applicability section for each.
- 3
Extract the eligibility tests
Record the criteria: demand thresholds, connected load, annual consumption, voltage, and any minimum term or opt-in rules. Note whether the test is based on the highest demand in the last 12 months or on another measure.
- 4
Gather 12 to 24 months of determinants
For each account collect monthly kWh, measured kW, billing kW, and TOU kWh where applicable. Interval data is better where available.
- 5
Test current fit
Check whether each account still meets the eligibility criteria for its schedule. Flag accounts that exceed the upper limit or fall below the lower limit.
- 6
Price the alternatives
For flagged accounts, and for any account on an optional schedule, compute what the trailing 12 months would have cost under each eligible schedule using the full tariff, including customer charges, riders, minimums and ratchets.
- 7
Check switching rules
Confirm whether the change is automatic or must be requested, what the effective date will be, and whether a minimum stay or a restriction on changing back applies.
- 8
Request changes and claims
Submit the schedule change request. Where the tariff required the utility to assign the correct schedule and it did not, file a claim for the difference over the allowed lookback.
Do not compare headline rates
A schedule with a lower energy rate may carry a higher demand charge, a ratchet or a minimum bill. Compare total annual cost computed from the real billing determinants, not rates listed on a summary page. The right schedule for a site with flat load can be wrong for one with sharp peaks.
Check also what a schedule excludes. Some rates cannot be combined with certain riders, demand response programs or on-site generation credits, and a nominal saving may not survive the exclusions.
Timing and triggers
Run the full review annually and after any trigger event: a remodel, new refrigeration, added equipment, a change in operating hours or a change of tenant. Trigger reviews are quick and catch most of the drift.
Keep a log of each review with the finding, the decision and the effective date of any change, so that you can show the next reviewer why a site is on its schedule.
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