There are increased opportunities for errors on utility bills due to today’s complex systems. Unfortunately, the information necessary to detect those errors does not always appear on the bill. A utility bill auditor will check everything and anything that affects your utility bill.

Wrong rates, rates applied improperly, estimated meter readings, meter malfunctions, meters improperly installed, billing for meters that do not exist, billing for accounts that belong to others, wrong type or size of light, riders not applied properly, calculation errors, double billings, double payments, charges not allowed in the contract, contracts with erroneous terms, and tariff violations. We check all historical billing data available and also perform field checks on certain meters and facilities.

For all audits our only fee is to keep a percentage of the actual refunds or savings obtained. If no refunds or savings are obtained, no fees are charged to the client.

A utility bill audit is a forensic look at your utility bill. Each audit is unique, but on average a full comprehensive audit takes 12-18 months. We work independently and provide status reports so you know what is happening with your audit. Our clients can choose to be as involved or uninvolved in the audit process as they would like to be.

TriStem will provide the client with a checklist detailing each item needed to begin the audit. In general, we will need 1 months worth of your electric bills, a list of facilities and square footage, any service agreements you have with your utility providers, and a contact person at your organization who will serve as a point of contact for any additional information needed from TriStem. Before starting the audit, a consulting agreement is signed by both parties.

TriStem does not bill our clients until refunds are obtained from the utility company for over-billings. Once you receive the refund, we will send you an invoice for our fee. Invoices are sent for each refund obtained. Many of our clients receive multiple refunds from multiple utility companies over the course of the audit.