Electricity bill audits for commercial and industrial companies
Electric bills carry most of a plant's utility cost and most of its billing risk: rate class, demand, meter setup, voltage, seasons, riders and, in competitive markets, capacity tags and supply contracts. We test every input against the tariff and contract that should govern it.
Where commercial electric bills go wrong
An industrial electric bill is built from a rate class, measured energy and demand, a meter setup, a calendar of seasons and time periods, riders, and in competitive markets, a supplier contract and market charges. Each input can be wrong while the arithmetic stays right, so the bill never looks wrong.
| What we test | What goes wrong | Where it matters most |
|---|---|---|
| Rate class | The account sits on a schedule that no longer matches its demand, load factor or voltage, often since an expansion or acquisition | Plants that grew or changed shifts |
| Demand and ratchets | Stuck or misread demand registers, ratchet math applied wrongly, peaks billed above what the schedule permits | Demand-heavy sites: metals, refrigeration, compressors |
| Meter multiplier | A wrong multiplier after a meter or transformer exchange inflates every bill in proportion | Large services with current transformers |
| Service voltage | A site taking service at primary voltage billed as secondary, missing the lower primary rate or discount | Plants that own their transformers |
| Power factor | Power factor charges billed on wrong readings, or penalties that a correction could remove | Motor-heavy loads |
| Seasons and time periods | Summer rates billed outside the tariff dates; on-peak hours that do not match the schedule | Seasonal and time-of-use tariffs |
| Capacity and transmission tags | PJM peak load contributions and transmission tags, or ERCOT 4CP values, set from the wrong intervals | PJM and ERCOT accounts |
| Riders | Optional riders a site could leave, or programs it never joined | Every market |
| Supply contract | Supplier prices, pass-throughs and bandwidth terms that do not match the contract | Deregulated markets |
Regulated and deregulated markets
In regulated states the utility bills everything under one tariff, and the rate class carries most of the risk. Those accounts are often the least reviewed, because no supplier competition draws attention to them. In deregulated markets the utility bills delivery, a supplier bills energy, and grid operators set capacity and transmission charges from each site's peaks. An audit tests all three: the delivery tariff, the supplier contract and the market-set tags. See charges by market for how PJM, ERCOT, MISO and other markets bill.
Capacity charges deserve their own check
In PJM, the capacity cost on a bill is the site's peak load contribution multiplied by the auction price, which rose from $28.92 to $329.17 per MW-day in two years. A tag set from the wrong hours, or never updated after a site cut its load, overcharges every month of the delivery year. Read PJM capacity prices and industrial budgets and the ERCOT 4CP guide.
What you receive
- A findings report separating one-time refunds, recurring savings and items that need more data.
- For each claim, the tariff sheet or rule it relies on and the calculation of what should have been billed.
- Copies of what is filed with the utility, its response, and proof of each refund as it posts.
Electric audits review 36 to 48 months of bills for every account in scope, not a sample, in regulated and deregulated markets across the US and Canada. There is no upfront fee. Start with a free rate class check or a 15-account pilot.
Frequently asked questions
What does an electric bill audit check?
Rate class, demand and ratchets, meter multipliers, service voltage, power factor, seasonal and time-of-use periods, riders, capacity and transmission tags, and the supply contract in deregulated markets.
Do you audit electric bills in regulated states?
Yes. Rate misclassification and billing-rule errors exist in every market, and regulated-state accounts are often the least reviewed.
Can you check our PJM capacity tag?
Yes. We compare the peak load contribution and transmission tags on the bill with the utility's published peak hours and your interval data.
How far back do electric audits go?
We review 36 to 48 months of bills. How far back refunds can go depends on the state and the utility; see refund periods by state.
Find out what your bills should have cost.
Send one recent bill per site, or a list of accounts. We tell you where we expect findings before you sign anything. No upfront audit fee.