Large demand charges deserve a line-by-line check
Refrigerated warehouses and distribution centers carry the largest bills per site, and the costliest errors.
Who we serve
Refrigerated warehouse, distribution center and 3PL operators with large industrial and commercial accounts across many utilities.
- of multi-site spend found overbilled on a first audit
- 3% to 7%of multi-site spend found overbilled on a first audit
- refunds and credits returned to customers
- $61M+refunds and credits returned to customers
- from bill access to first findings report
- 21 daysfrom bill access to first findings report
- upfront cost on the Recovery Audit plan
- $0upfront cost on the Recovery Audit plan
Where the money leaks
Demand charges dominate the bill
Large compressor and dock-door loads mean demand can be the biggest line on the bill. A wrong peak or ratchet is worth far more here than at a store.
Ratchets carry one bad month forward
A single high month during a defrost, startup or fault can set the billed demand floor for the following months under the schedule's ratchet clause.
Industrial rate eligibility is easy to get wrong
Customers with large loads may qualify for industrial or interruptible schedules. The utility assigns a class at hookup and does not review it.
Tenant and customer cost allocation
Third-party logistics operators bill utility costs to customers. A utility overcharge flows straight into disputes over pass-through charges.
What we usually find
- Demand ratchet errors
Ratchet floors set by a one-time spike, a metering fault or a period before a load change, then billed for months.
- Power factor penalties
Penalties on facilities with large motor and VFD loads, including after correction equipment was added.
- TOU period misapplication
Peak and off-peak periods applied to the wrong hours, including holidays the tariff treats as off-peak.
- Wrong rate schedule
Large facilities billed on a general service schedule when a more favorable one applies, or on one they have outgrown.
How it runs
- 1
Collect bills and interval data
We request interval data for your largest meters first, since that is where ratchet and peak errors are decided.
- 2
Reconstruct billed demand
We rebuild the demand charge from interval data and the tariff's rules, including ratchet, power factor and time-of-use periods.
- 3
Test rate eligibility
Each facility's load profile is compared to the eligibility terms of every schedule available in its service area.
- 4
File claims with engineering support
Claim packets include the load shape and tariff language, written for the utility's key account or billing review team.
- 5
Report prospective savings
Where a schedule change would reduce future bills, we document it for your energy team to approve and file.
Customer story
A cold storage network recovers $1.07 million in demand and rate errors
Read the story- $1,200,000
- overbilling identified across 29 claims
- $1,068,000
- refunds and credits received to date
- $410,000
- estimated annual savings from filed rate changes
Questions we get asked
No. The audit looks at what was billed against what the tariff allows. Operating changes are a separate decision, which we only suggest when the data supports them.
We audit against the contract terms and the tariff provisions that govern them. If a contract is not available to us, we flag those accounts rather than guess.
Recovered amounts are tied to meter and site. We provide the allocation detail so you can adjust customer invoices where your contracts require it.
Not on Recovery Audit. Continuous Audit adds a platform fee of $4 per meter per month with a lower recovery share of 20%.
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