Not an electric bill this time — water. Client is a strip mall owner in Phoenix served by City of Phoenix Water. I was auditing electric but also pulled the water bills as a courtesy. Noticed 8 months of estimated reads followed by a massive actual read that was 3x the normal monthly average. The city billed the catch-up in one lump — $23,000 for a strip mall that normally runs $3,000/month on water. Turns out there was an underground irrigation line leak that started right around when the estimates began. The city was estimating based on historical usage that did not include the leak. When they finally read the meter the damage was done. Client now owes $23K and the water is already in the ground.
Estimated bills hid a water leak for 8 months
This is one of those cases where the estimated bills actually hurt the customer. If the city had been reading the meter monthly, the client would have seen the spike immediately and found the leak. Eight months of unchecked leaking is a disaster. In Scottsdale, the city has a leak adjustment policy — if you can document the leak was repaired, they will adjust the sewer portion of the bill down to normal levels since the leaked water never entered the sewer system. Check if Phoenix has something similar.
Followed up on this. Phoenix does have a leak adjustment policy. Filed the paperwork with the repair invoice showing the irrigation line was fixed. City credited $9,400 in sewer charges. Client still owed about $13,600 but was grateful we got it down from $23K. Also negotiated a 6-month payment plan. Lesson learned — always pull water bills even if you are hired for electric only.