Should we get a second opinion on our energy broker's work?
If you cannot say how many suppliers bid, what your broker is paid, what your "fixed" price includes or why some sites were never bid, a second opinion is worth having. Here is what one checks.
A second opinion on an energy broker reviews the broker's last RFPs, the contracts it placed, its compensation and the accounts it left out, against the market and the terms available at the time. Discovery Energy Utility Audits reviews broker-placed electricity and natural gas contracts for multi-site companies, checks the bills those contracts produced, and, where it finds errors on the utility side, recovers them on contingency. The review runs alongside your broker; it does not require ending the relationship.
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Signs a review is due
- You do not know how many suppliers were invited to your last RFP, or which ones.
- Your broker's compensation is not written in the contract or agreement.
- Offers arrived as one recommended price instead of a side-by-side comparison.
- Capacity or transmission costs rose on your bills even though your price is "fixed".
- Some sites, often in other states, have never been bid and sit on default service.
- A contract renewed automatically, or you learned about an expiry from the supplier.
- Usage changed (a closure, a new line) and the supplier billed for the difference.
- The broker earns more when you sign longer terms or larger volumes, and that was never discussed.
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What a second opinion checks
| Area | What is checked | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier field | How many suppliers were invited and how many bid, by market | A narrow field gives weaker prices |
| Like-for-like bids | Whether every supplier quoted the same product, term and pass-throughs | Unequal bids hide the real cheapest offer |
| Price against the market | The contract price against forward prices on the signing date | Shows timing and margin together |
| Contract terms | Pass-throughs, change-in-law, usage tolerance, early termination, auto-renewal, assignment | The terms decide what the price really covers |
| Broker compensation | Form and amount: per-unit adder, flat fee or both, and who pays it | An undisclosed adder on a long term adds up |
| Coverage | Accounts and states never bid; sites on default or month-to-month pricing | Licensing limits can leave most of a portfolio untouched |
A broker's work also stops at the supply contract. It does not test whether the utility is billing each account under the right rate class, riders, demand and meter setup. Discovery's review adds that test, because a wrong rate class produces a bill whose math is correct and is never flagged by supply-side checks. See second-opinion utility audits.
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What to send for a review
Current supply contracts
Each master agreement and transaction confirmation, with any amendments.
The broker agreement
Including any compensation schedule or disclosure.
The last RFP summary
The bid sheet or recommendation the broker gave you, with the signing date.
Recent bills
Two or three recent utility and supplier bills per account.
Account list
Every site and account, including those the broker does not manage.
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What happens after the review
You get a written finding for each area, the accounts left out of procurement, an estimate of what the broker's compensation cost over the contract term, and any utility billing errors with their recoverable amounts. From there you can keep the broker with tighter terms, run the next RFP with Discovery, or keep procurement where it is and add a tariff audit behind it.
Documented result
A national steel company's incumbent energy manager had auditing in scope. An independent review still found 17 misclassified accounts in 7 states, $374,326 in refunds and more than $150,000 a year in recurring savings. Read the case.
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Questions buyers ask
Should we get a second opinion on our energy broker's work?
Yes, if you cannot answer four questions from your own records: how many suppliers bid, what the broker is paid, what your price includes, and why any sites were not bid. A review answers them and checks the bills the contracts produced.
Will our broker know?
The review uses your own contracts and bills, so it can run without involving the broker. Utility usage data is requested under a letter of authorization in your name.
Can we get out of a contract the broker signed?
That depends on the contract's early termination terms. Often the better move is to align the next renewal and fix the terms then. The review shows the cost of each option.
What does the review cost?
Utility billing errors found in the review are recovered on contingency, usually 15% to 50% of refunds and verified savings. Procurement, if you move it, is a disclosed fixed monthly fee or supplier-paid commission.
See how your bills would be coded.
Send a list of accounts and your cost center structure. We show how each account would map before you move anything.