No cost, no risk, no catch — here is exactly how the engagement works, in plain language.
24 answers, organized by topic. Still have a question? Contact us directly.
We review your gas, electricity, water, sewer, and steam bills line by line, checking tariff classification, metering, taxes, exemptions, and demand charges among many other components and charges, against what your utility is legally permitted to bill, using our proprietary BillAudit™ platform and 35+ years of tariff expertise.
Nothing. There is no engagement fee, no retainer, and no upfront cost of any kind. We are paid only from the money we recover or save.
Most clients see initial findings within 90–120 days of providing billing data, though the full retroactive review and any dispute resolution can take longer depending on the utility, but then the flow of opportunities continue.
Electronic access to your utility provider, a signed contract and letter of authorization allowing us to speak with your utilities on your behalf, and some information on your properties — most clients spend under an hour on the entire intake. And that is essentially all on an on-going basis.
No. We find recoverable errors in roughly 94% of customer engagements, including accounts already audited by another auditing firm, or an in-house energy manager. No matter who has examined your accounts, or what they have uncovered, we are confident UtiliSave will find more.
Purely on contingency — our fee comes out of the money we recover or save, so if we find nothing, you owe nothing.
Our standard fee is 40% of what we recover, whether that is a refund or future rate savings, and it only applies to the benefits we deliver.
If you already have an in-house team or another firm auditing your bills, we will re-audit those same accounts at no risk to you; if we do not find money others missed, it costs you nothing.
No catch — no recovery means no fee, no invoice, and no further obligation of any kind.
Misapplied tariffs, meter data errors, missed exemptions and programs, miscalculated demand, and overlooked tax exemptions are the five errors we see most often.
We audit to the full statute of limitations in your state — typically two to six years, and under certain circumstances longer.
Yes — most billing errors are not obvious on the surface because they are classification and calculation errors, not mathematical errors.
Both — refunds recover what was overpaid historically, and correcting future facings charges lowers your run-rate every month afterward.
Very little — we handle data collection, analysis, filing, and negotiation, and most clients spend less than an hour on the initial entire engagement, and near zero time on an on-going basis.
Every engagement includes our legal team’s input** at no extra cost, and we will pursue disputes if we believe such action is warranted — including litigation — until they are resolved.
We do, directly — you never have to call, write, or negotiate with a utility on your own.
Yes — we complement in-house teams, efficiency providers, and ESCOs by focusing specifically on billing accuracy, an area most energy managers are typically not resourced to audit.
Our proprietary BillAudit™ platform applies in-house designed, built and maintained algorithms across your full billing history to flag anomalies a manual review without the advantage of 35+ years of auditing success would miss — we have invested $10 million+ in this technology, and continue to make large IT investments.
Yes — your data is used solely to conduct your audit and is never shared with or sold to any third party, and we will execute an NDA if requested.
That should not be a problem because with rare exception we will get the billing data directly from the utility
Healthcare, higher education, hospitality, manufacturing, government, real estate, religious institutions, restaurants, groceries, and long-term care — essentially anyone who has large utility bills.
Both — we have recovered five-figure refunds for single properties and eight-figure refunds for national portfolios. But there are minimum billing requirements, please inquire for details.
Yes — accurate billing data is the foundation of accurate ESG and benchmarking reporting, we also provide uploading to EnergyStar.
Yes — we add a recovery layer that complements efficiency and procurement work already underway, and we pay referral fees to partners.
No cost to start. No fee unless we recover.
Start a Free Audit**If, after consultation with you, litigation is warranted, we will work closely with experienced outside counsel to advocate for your rights. Outside counsel is Steifman LLP, of which Michael Steifman, CEO of UtiliSave, is the founding and managing partner. There typically will be no additional charge or fee to you for this service, other than what is set forth in your Agreement with UtiliSave. Should there be a fee, your consent in advance will be required before we proceed. You may also, at your own expense, choose counsel of your choice.