There are 3 main reasons why you are overpaying on your utility bills, and a
simple utility bill audit can solve the problem. Read below to see how to avoid
overpaying on your next utility bill.
The 3 Main Reasons Why You are Overpaying on your Utility
Bills, and How to Avoid Them!
Just look at the headlines from across the country.
Jan, 2002. Boston-Based Utility Nstar Corp admits billing errors, agrees
to refunds. Nstar admitted it had improperly moved nearly 24,000 of its
electric customers to a more expensive "default" service and settles a
class-action lawsuit.
Nov, 2003. Florida Power & Light Company acknowledges thousands of
meters were inaccurate beyond levels allowed by state law. Class action
suit filed for "knowingly providing them with faulty thermal-demand
meters."
March, 2004. Pacific Gas & Electric admits to a 275% increase in billing
errors in one year. "Frustrated apartment managers are trying to
untangle a complicated web of PG&E billing changes, delays and
mistakes..."
Reason #1: Utility companies make mistakes.
Would anyone just go to the IRS and say, "Here are my receipts and
statements. Go ahead and tell me what my taxes should be." No, of course
not. It's why people go to a good CPA or tax attorney.
How A Little Mistake Almost Cost A Company $50,000.
One of the largest utility companies in the US performed a rate
analysis for a business customer. They showed a modest savings but asked
them to sign a disclaimer. Had they done so, they would have forfeited
$50,000 that we found.
Reason #2: Utility rules and regulations are complex,
confusing, and often contradictory.
How well can you play a game if nobody tells you all the rules? It's the
same with the utility companies. You are given a confusing set of
different rate schedules and classifications. However, that's not all.
For every rate, you may have 5 to 10 different subrates, and then
another 5 to 10 different subrates within those subrates, and on and on.
It's just like the Russian dolls where you keep opening one up and
finding another one inside. How are you supposed to know what's best?
Reason #3: Companies have downsized. Fewer people have
less time to resolve even simple billing issues.
Utility
companies have had to reduce their workforce in many parts of the
country like any industry just to survive. Have you ever called for a
simple question and been held on hold so long you had another birthday?
Profits That Are Hidden In Your Utility Bills
So what can a business do to watch its utility bills? Obviously one
answer is go through each line item in the monthly bills, and that can
make sense if the bills are only a hundred dollars a month or less.
What about an office or apartment building, or any business where there
are many accounts or the bills are thousands of dollars? What then?
Engineers are enormously busy just making sure everything is running
efficiently. When do they have time to read over obscure regulations?
Accounting departments have enough to worry about with continual audits
and preparing financial statements.
"It is not unusual for a company to be paying 20-30% more than it
should for utilities, and if you don't know the various codes, billing
procedures, and tariffs for each utility, you're only guessing that your
rates are OK." -California Business Magazine.
Every business knows how precious the commodity of time is and its
importance. As Vince Lombardi, the hard-bitten coach of the Green Bay
Packers once said, "We didn't lose the game. We just ran out of time."
