by Sean Murray | Jan 6, 2022 | AT&T, Electric Bills, Refunds and credits from PSE&G, Telecom, Telecom Bills, Telecom Refunds, Utility Auditing, Utility Bills
One of the refunds we secured for a town in New Jersey
We may be able to do this for you.
No fee if no refund
Good Morning Paul,
I credited account #2DG29572 in the amount of $4,223.50 which posted to that account on 12/16/14 for the time period of 01/17/14 through 11/26/14 for the incorrect pricing.
In order to possibly provide you further credit for the dropped pricing/contract rates; we would need to submit for a Settlement. If you are interested in a possible Settlement; please let me know and I will submit for approval to begin the Settlement process.
To track the status of this request, visit the Verizon Enterprise Center online at https://enterprisecenter.verizon.com. If you are not already registered, simply click the “enroll now” button to register.
Thank you for choosing Verizon.
Charles V
Customer Care | Verizon Enterprise Solutions
by Sean Murray | Apr 12, 2021 | Utility Auditing
Simply put, a utility audit is a detailed, thorough analysis of all your utility bills, including electric, water, sewer, and gas. Executing a comprehensive utility audit finds billing inconsistencies and errors and examines your business’s rate plan for effectiveness. A utility auditor will evaluate your rate plans and suggest cost effective changes.
Utility providers do not go out of their way to make it easy for you to understand their billing system. Bills, codes, industry tariffs, and even utility terminology can be confusing and impossible for the layman to understand. Calculating what you should be paying is not simple for the novice either.
The Steps of a Utility Audit
A thoroughly executed Utility Audit will cover the following:
- Your energy usage numbers will be reviewed. Your energy bills should not vary wildly, especially when comparing month to month, and season to season expenses. Carefully auditing these numbers will find billing errors and ensure that you are not being overcharged or charged for the same period twice.
- Rate Structure Analysis. Your auditor knows that you are not simply forced to accept the rate structured assigned to you by your utility provider. They will have the expertise to review the different rate options available to you and select the one that fits. No utility company is going to do that work for you.
- Observe Growth Trends. Periodically certain utility bills surge, sometimes with good reason. If you are in a tropical climate, your energy bills may surge in summertime, and conversely, cold climates will see higher energy bills in the winter. Water bills should remain consistent. Utility audits will uncover these anomalies and go back to the utility company for answers.
The Utility Audit Process
A utility audit will require some work on your part in the preparation phase, but after that we do all the heavy lifting. We will need to look at all invoices from your utility vendors, for all your locations. We will assess each vendor for accuracy.
Next, we will conduct a market analysis of providers, regulatory requirements, your options, and compliance. The entire process takes 4 – 6 weeks. Once you approve our recommendations, we will contact your providers and make the contractual changes for you.
Why a Utility Audit Matters to Your Business
Research shows that over 90% of businesses are invoiced incorrectly at least once a year. If you manage a large business, these expenses can be astronomical. If you manage an SMB, one large billing error can evaporate your cash on hand and paralyze your business. Here are two examples of cost saving opportunities most businesses do not consider:
Water and Sewer: Some of the largest reductions we have helped our clients attain is regarding their water and sewer bills. Not only have we found billing errors, but we have also discovered costly leaks and helped them get credits.
Natural Gas: The gas industry has changed rapidly over the past few years, and there are methods we can use that eliminate some of the risk to your business when it comes to your gas bills.
Who Executes a Utility Audit?
A utility audit may be performed by an internal team, but it is likely that most of your team is swamped doing their regular jobs. Hiring an external contractor who specializes in utility audits is often the best bet. In addition to how busy your team is, there are other reasons to hire an independent utility auditor:
- A utility auditor is an expert at their work, and it will be easier for them to identify mistakes.
- An auditor has experience with a wide variety of contracts and will know how to negotiate with your utility providers. Can negotiate better with utility providers.
- Auditors are familiar with utility providers and know how to expedite the process.
Who Uses Them?
Large multinational companies, and SMB’s may benefit from an in-house auditor depending on the number of utility providers, number of accounts with providers, and total utility spend. Enterprise and SMBs also benefit from Utility Audits. We are experienced working with all three entities.
If you are spending more than $2,500 per month on your utility bills, an audit is highly recommended. If you have questions or would like to schedule a consultation, contact us by email, or call us at (888) 208-0020.
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
by Sean Murray | Aug 11, 2020 | Cost Recovery, Electric Bills, Refunds and credits from PSE&G, Save Money, Utility Auditing, Utility Bills
1000’s of Customer’s Accounts Audited
80% Overcharged
Average Savings 17%
Get money back at no cost. Over 35% of utility, telecom, internet bills have errors. Do yours?
We review our clients’ utility/energy bills and determine if there are errors or
overcharges that have been paid, that can be refunded.
At no cost to you we have our staff analyze your bills to determine any incorrect charges, i.e.: classification, surcharges, tariffs, taxes, demand charges, etc.
Remember, this program is on a contingency basis, meaning we only get paid if you get your refund.
We provide in-depth auditing of utility bills to identify opportunities for cost control, to uncover errors, and to secure client savings and refunds. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Here are some examples of the refunds we have secured for our clients:
Request a Free Audit by completing the form below or clicking this button.
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by Sean Murray | Apr 10, 2015 | Medical Industry, Reduce Overhead Costs, Save Money, Uncategorized, Utility Auditing
Allow us to share our 30+ years of healthcare experience. It is our goal to find savings that will allow you to either upgrade systems, operate more efficiently, and to direct more money to your bottom line.
Our auditing is performed on a contingency fee basis. We do the research and legwork required in recovering the money you have already spent and continue to spend. There is no charge to you if we do not find any errors or areas where we can affect savings/reductions. Some examples:
- We saved Lakeland Healthcare over $1200.00 per month on telephone services which they used to pay for a new telephone system for the entire facility. We provided our in house financing on an installment sale basis. This system also provided dial tone to the residents, providing a profit center that generates over $2,000.00 per month.
- Provided a system design that upgraded their 30+ year old Dukane hands free intercom system, into a state of the art audio-visual nurse-call system with 2 way voice to the residents, at a savings of $40,000.00 when compared to a new Dukane system.
- At Liberty Manor Assisted Living we supervised/ acted as G.C. for their low voltage systems including: Telephones for administration as well as the residents, which provided a profit center.
- Integrated the wireless nurse call, wander, door alarms, and fire alarms to wireless, and wired telephones. A full description and magazine article regarding this unique solution is available in a separate white paper.
- We also provide a solution to save on utility expenses, and are expert in discovering billing errors.
by Sean Murray | Mar 30, 2015 | New Jersey, Reduce Overhead Costs, Uncategorized, Utility Auditing, Utility Bills, Water Bills
As Utility Auditors, we see this kind of outrageous over-billing often. $115 million, in this instance, will be refunded thanks to rarely seen sanctions against this type of behavior.
If you believe your business or investment property has been overbilled – on any utilities – do not hesitate to contact a Professional Utility Auditor – Immediately. Applied Utility Auditors offers no – risk services. We only get paid if you get a refund. Don’t get over your head in overhead.
Call Paul Today: 877 208 0021
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
JCP&L rates to drop slightly after ruling
March 18, 2015 Last updated: Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 5:29 PM
By DAVE SHEINGOLD
Staff Writer |
The Record
Electricity users in six Passaic County communities and all of Morris County will see their rates drop slightly in the next few months following a ruling Wednesday by state regulators that sanctioned Jersey Central Power & Light for overbilling customers, but also let the company recoup money spent repairing damage from major storms.
In a unanimous vote at a meeting in Trenton, the Board of Public Utilities ordered JCP&L to refund $115 million to customers through the rate reduction, mostly to cover overcharges for power grid maintenance throughout its northern and central New Jersey territory from 2008 to 2011.
But the board also ordered that ratepayers pay for $736 million JCP&L spent restoring power following Superstorm Sandy and other bouts of severe weather since then that caused blackouts of up to two weeks.
The net result of formulas that parcel out those expenses over varying periods of time will be a $34 million cut in the company’s annual revenue and a drop of 1.2 percent, or $1.68, in its average residential monthly bill, according to the board. The exact month when bills will drop has not been set, but should come this spring, said BPU spokesman Greg Reinert.
JCP&L’s 1.1 million customers include 15,400 in six Passaic County municipalities – Wayne, West Milford, Wanaque, Pompton Lakes, Bloomingdale and Ringwood – and 197,000 in Morris County.
“Today’s order ensures that JCP&L is providing safe and proper service at just and reasonable rates, while also securing and being mindful of the company’s financial integrity,” said BPU President Richard Mroz.
The decision represents a middle-ground between a $207.5 million revenue reduction sought by a state consumer advocacy office and a request by JCP&L for a rate hike to cover increased expenses and storm-related costs.
In January, a state administrative law judge largely sided with claims by the office, known as the Division of Rate Counsel, that JCP&L used complex accounting techniques to return too much profit to its parent company, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, OH. The judge said the issue of storm costs should be addressed in a separate proceeding.
The BPU, however, combined both matters into one.
The ruling was criticized by Stefanie Brand, director of the Rate Counsel’s office, for rejecting the office’s request for retroactive rate cuts and postponement of storm-cost repayment.
“I’m disappointed,” she said. “It’s still a reduction. But I think they should have taken into account the fact that ratepayers had been paying too much for a number of years. They could have phased this in.” She declined to say if the order would be appealed.
Ronald Morano, a spokesman for JCP&L, said the company would review the order before commenting, but noted that it planned $254 million in improvements this year. Those include new circuits, upgraded utility poles, flood-proofing around power transfer stations and tree-trimming around power lines. The latter effort is aimed at a key problem in the company’s largely suburban and rural territory.
Wednesday’s ruling ends an unusually long-running case involving claims that disputed, in highly arcane terms, the write-offs, equipment depreciation and other accounting techniques used to set rates that generate JCP&L’s revenues. A key issue was whether JCP&L collected too much to cover its federal taxes and then used that money to offset taxes owed by other FirstEnergy subsidiaries.
Brand’s office also accused the company of improperly cutting costs, especially on grid maintenance and tree-trimming. JCP&L responded with a case of its own, seeking rate hikes.
Email: sheingold@northjersey.com
by Sean Murray | Mar 10, 2015 | Electric Bills, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Uncategorized, Utility Auditing, Utility Bills
As many New Jerseyans, Pennsylvanians and New Yorkers have come to discover over the winter, the relatively new marketplace for third party suppliers of electricity has not been as great in practice as it may have been in theory.
Many third party suppliers, it seems, have been inexplicably driving up prices on consumers, claiming increased costs due to winter weather — in spite of the non-inflated prices from the primary supplier. A Forbes Contributor went so far as to proclaim this trend a “new scam.”
How are they getting away with this dodgy practice? The marketplace, after all, allows customers to switch suppliers, right?
Unfortunately, switching suppliers can take months to finalize, and some of these companies seem to be exploiting that fact while banking on the docility of others. Late notices for bills threaten power shut-offs and this can also serve in the interest of these price-jackers as people are afraid to take any corrective action.
So what can you do?
Dispute the charges immediately. Switch suppliers immediately. You may also wish to contact your state’s Attorney General and Public Utilities Commission (or their equivalents). In Pennsylvania, the Attorney General is already looking into this matter, and the State Legislature is also launching an investigation.
Are you a business owner or CEO? Is your business spending way too much on energy?
Let Applied Utility Auditors LLC dispute these and other utility overcharges on your behalf.
Contact Paul Steberger of Applied Utility Auditors Today.
