Energy costs and utility rates keep rising at an alarming rate each year. In spite of businesses doing their best for cost containment and doing their own utility bill audits, utility costs have increased by more than 250% in many parts of the United States just since 2003.

Electricity rates and natural gas rates across the country are complex, confusing and contradictory. This is true whether you’re with PG&E, So Cal Edison, Florida Power & Light, Texas Power or Con Edison. It’s the same with water and sewage costs too.

What cost reduction strategies can a business use to keep the cost of energy down and reduce their utility bills?

Is your business utility poor?

“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.” CA Business Magazine

Three Closely Guarded Secrets of the Utility Companies

Rule #1…You aren’t supposed to know the rules and neither do they.

Have you ever called the IRS for a simple tax question and been given 10 different answers? It’s the same with the utility companies.

Electricity companies and gas companies profit in environments of chaos. The less someone is able to decipher an electricity bill, gas bill or a water and sewage bill from your city utility, the more they profit.

For every rate they have, there may be 5 to 10 different subrates, and then another 5 to 10 subrates within those. Before long you find yourself trapped in a maze of dead ends, trapdoors and legal jargon.

They don’t want you to know your real electricity, natural gas or water and sewage cost. Also, they know you’re much too busy with the daily operations of your company to waste countless hours with them.

Rule #2...The rules were never meant to benefit you.

With ever changing rules, laws and interpretations, the utility companies in your state are profiting from your inability to keep up. They're tucking in hidden surcharges, systematically moving companies into higher pricing categories and making fundamental billing errors that erode your bottom line.

Recently, one of the largest utility companies in the US performed a “cost reduction” billing rate analysis for a business customer. The utility company admitted an error and offered a refund, requiring the customer to sign a disclaimer.

Fortunately, they called in Auditek to take a second look. We found a much larger refund than the utility company in addition to an annual $50,000 savings (and the call prevented the CFO from getting fired). Had the business agreed to sign the utility's disclaimer, they would have forfeited that $50,000.

Rule #3…You’ll never win playing by their rules.

What happens when you try and do something to reduce those utility bills? You're left waiting on the phone for hours or sent to their web site to download forms and send emails to the appropriate people. Since you're saddled with the burden of proving you've been overcharged or put into the wrong rate category, you're forced to fill out reams of paperwork and documentation.

We work with property management companies, homeowner associations, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, government agencies, hotels, motels, apartment owners, manufacturing plants…if you’re concerned about your utility bills, we can help.

Auditek fights for you. If we find overcharges, unwarranted surcharges and potential billing errors, we'll do whatever it takes to secure your refunds and to make sure you're protected from future utility bill abuse. So if you want a utility consultant with a proven record of utility bill auditing, Auditek makes sure you use the rules and regulations to your advantage, not the utility companies.