The Value of a Utility Audit
Utility bill audits are essential for identifying hidden savings in your energy, gas, and water bills. Utility bill audits can reduce costs by as much as 10% within the first 18 months and help recover 2% annually on an ongoing basis. With utility bill audits, utility costs, which can average 20-30% of an organization’s budget, no longer have to drain your bottom line.
By performing regular utility bill audits, UtiliSave helps uncover billing errors, secure refunds, and cut utility expenses with no risk or time commitment required from your team.
Why Utility Bill Audits Matter
A utility bill audit is a comprehensive review of your invoices to spot overcharges, billing errors, and rate problems. Unlike energy audits that focus on reducing consumption, utility bill audits concentrate on accurate billing, optimal rates, and improved data quality.
Key Business Benefits
This utility audit delivers measurable financial and operational advantages that extend far beyond simple cost reduction:
Immediate Cost Reduction
Utility bill audits identify errors and overcharges, delivering fast refunds and compounding cost reductions.
Improved Data Quality
Regular utility bill audits ensure clean, accurate records for effective budgeting and planning.
Capital for Growth Initiatives
Utility bill audits have helped UtiliSave clients recover over $650 million, empowering new investments in sustainability and operations.
Reinvest in Business Goals
Savings from utility bill audits can be put toward expanding services, new equipment, or facility upgrades.
Enhanced ESG Reporting
Accurate data from utility bill audits supports credible ESG and sustainability reports that demonstrate responsible management.
Utility Audit Value FAQ
Generally, comprehensive utility bill audits should be performed annually or whenever you notice unexplained cost increases. However, ongoing monthly monitoring provides the most effective approach to identify billing errors and rate optimization opportunities.
Typically, common errors include incorrect meter readings, wrong rate applications, duplicate charges, and billing for inactive accounts. Additionally, utility bill auditing identifies outdated rate schedules and contract discrepancies that result in overpayments.
Common Misconceptions
When you engage UtiliSave, any additional savings uncovered are true value added. We review your accounts at no out of pocket cost, so you only stand to gain. In addition, we find that many in-house teams do not have the time or expertise to review utility billings and extensively research the relevant tax and tariff matters. UtiliSave has over 30 years of experience analyzing complex data sets with our robust proprietary software to secure refunds and pin-point recovery opportunities for continuous savings year after year. We perform intricate tariff and contract review to find discrepancies and the best rate option. Optimizing utility data is not an easy task, but it is UtiliSave’s sole focus and specialty. Without the adequate knowledge and expertise, money will be left on the table.
That does not diminish our interest in your engagement! UtiliSave’s utility data analysis is unparalleled in the industry, and we prove this by securing more savings and refunds for our clients than any other firm, marching strong towards $1 billion in uncovered revenue. Time and time again, UtiliSave finds additional savings for clients who had already performed a previous utility bill audit. Our trailing audits have uncovered tens of millions of dollars in missed refund opportunities by other auditors.
Our work is truly mission-critical. For example, did you know there is a statute of limitations on each billing issue? Unfortunately, the longer you wait, the more refunds and savings opportunities become unavailable to claim. Fortunately, our process is designed to be the least intrusive to you and your team.
Although our contingency fee is 40%, this fee is uniform for all clients, from smaller clients to large clients with utility spends of $500 million or more. However, many other auditing firms that charge less often do not perform the extensive data analysis we do. Most importantly, with UtiliSave, there is no upfront cost or advance payments.
Typically, the scope of work undertaken by Bill-Pay or Procurement Consultants is cursory and limited to analysis of the most current bill. In contrast, deep utility data analysis is a hallmark of the UtiliSave audit process. We identify billing irregularities in both historical and current utility bills. We perform continuous tariff and contract reviews to secure the best rate options for our clients.
Fortunately, our process is designed for the client’s benefit and to recoup savings and refunds while being minimally intrusive to you and your team. Moreover, we only implement changes that ultimately result in savings and will not make any major changes to your accounts without notifying you.
Clearly, our contingency fee basis demonstrates our invested interest in achieving maximum refunds and savings. Therefore, clients are not expected to pay unless we uncover money. However, if contingency fees are not suitable for your business methods, we are open to arranging fixed fees.
Actually, we personally maintain strong relationships with utilities and are consistently engaged by companies who are on excellent terms with their utility providers. In fact, much of our work benefits utility companies, as we often help clients pay bills timely and resolve issues with delinquent accounts. Ultimately, strong utility relationships help us achieve better results for our clients.
