Yes! It’s entirely possible!
Approximately 70% of companies are overcharged on their utility bills. And a whopping 90% of non-profits are overcharged!
All the way back in 1986 a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee study found that in a single year, public utility companies had overbilled their customers by approximately $19 billion.
In today’s world there are over 150 cost components to every utility bill! This means there are over 150 ways for there to be an error on your statement. Most of the time these overcharges are accidental, but they do happen more often than you think and they add up! These errors can be caused by human error, faulty equipment, and the application of incorrect rate plans. One of the most common problems is tax misclassification.
For example, the owner of a small RV park in Tallahassee, Florida discovered that his business qualified for a sales tax exemption he hadn’t known about. The city felt that it was the business’s responsibility to find and qualify for tax exemptions and had never informed him of this exemption. It’s a good thing this owner looked into it and found his business qualified, because he ended up getting a rebate of approximately $5,600 in sales tax exemptions going back 3 years.
Another common source of utility bill overcharges is rate change errors. The exact amount a utility company charges for a unit of energy can vary significantly based on many different factors that determine a customer’s rate. A third category of errors can come from mistakes in the metering process (reset errors, meter malfunction, recording and mathematical errors, etc.)
To help commercial and non-profit entities identify and recover these overcharges, Consumer Energy Solutions has created the new CES Utility Recovery Program.
This program begins with data gathering—the CES team pulls together all the customer’s utility bills going back anywhere from three to four years. We can look at your electric, gas, water, waste water and telecommunication bills.
A complete review of both the utility and the supplier is done to check for errors and overcharges. Every component of every bill is scrutinized for errors of any of the types described above.
Once mistakes have been identified, CES presents its findings to the utility company, makes certain that the errors are rectified and arranges for recovery, which can take two forms: either a refund or credit is processed, or the utility bill is reduced by the amount of the error for future bills.
CES will also provide you with educational material so you can enable staff to identify and remedy billing discrepancies in the future.
Click here to get a free quote.
There are no upfront fees. In fact, if we do not find overcharges, there is no cost to you at all.
It’s easier than you think!
You can have a free consultation by contacting 866-748-2669