Utility Bill Auditing FAQ’s

What services do you offer?

Our expertise is in analyzing electric, natural gas, water, other fuel oils, garbage, sewage, and telecom usage. We offer a couple different types of utility bill audits; we perform audits on single accounts or on the entire building, and between those two formats we price based on a flat rate as well as a contingency basis.

What type of pricing do you offer for your various utility bill auditing services?

That is a good question; below we have broken up our two different ways of pricing so that you can see the advantages and disadvantages of both.

  • Flat Rate per Meter/Facility
  • You simply pay a flat rate upfront cost for each meter or facility.
  • You as the customer keep all refunds and future savings.
  • This is the only option for meters averaging less than $10,000 a month in charges.
  • Contingency or Savings Based
  • This option is only available for meters averaging over $10,000 a month in charges.
  • No upfront cost for customer.
  • We only get paid if we find you savings.
  • Any savings found are split up between both parties.

How do I get the ball rolling on this?

The first step towards getting started is filling out the utility audit request form, doing this will put us in contact with you and give us an opportunity to look at your situation. From there we will work out and decide on what type of utility audit would be best for you.

How can I tell if my Utility is overcharging me?

The answer to this question involves the level of complexity that your Utility has within its rates and tariffs book or schedule. Some utility companies are very cut and dry, for example, a county water provider may only have a single “Commercial” rate, so you have no other rate options. In the other situation where a utility has several rate options, the likelihood of being overcharged is much greater since you have more options to choose from.

How long does a typical bill audit take? What will I have to do on my end?

Generally once we receive approximately 18 bills for each meter we can complete our work within a month. Other than having to provide us with copies of the bills, you may have to sign a Letter of Authorization which allows us to talk with the utility about your account.

Sounds like something we could do on our own, why have Abraxas do it?

The simple answer is that we have been doing this for years and we are experts at dealing with utility companies. The reason you choose us is the same reason you would hire an electrician to wire up a new hot tub.

Am I at any sort of risk?

When our work is done we will come to one of a few simple conclusions and they are all good for you. First of which is that you are being billed correctly and you now have independent verification of that. The second possibility is that you are being undercharged and we will let you know if that is the case. The last option is that you are being overcharged and will have past and future savings. This is true for approximately 25% of our customers. Fortunately nothing changes for you, no new equipment, same utility, now you just pay less.

How do you breakdown and investigate our utility bill costs?

We really dive into the rate and tariff schedules and scour for every individual charge that appears on your bill. From there we check every possible alternate rate that may save money on your account. In addition to this we use our Metrix Utility Accounting software to search for historical billing errors and potential meter read mistakes.