Jack from Dallas. Multi-location industrial client. Found a demand meter configuration error at their main plant. On a hunch I checked two other locations and found the same error — the CT ratio was programmed incorrectly in the meter. All three locations were overbilled on demand for the past 18 months. The utility confirmed the error and the fix was made at all three. Has anyone found systematic errors across multiple locations from the same utility?
Found the same demand error at three of a client's locations
Derek from Charlotte. Yes and when you find one systematic error you should always check the full account portfolio. The same metering staff, the same configuration tool, the same error pattern applied across multiple installations.
Jack again. The utility said the error occurred during a meter replacement program they ran 18 months ago. They replaced about 400 commercial meters in the area. My client had three of them.
Derek again. Jack there are hundreds of other commercial customers in that territory who received the same incorrect meter installation. You just found yourself a potential niche — offering to review demand billing for any commercial customer in the utility's service territory who had a meter replaced in that program.
Nancy from St. Louis. Derek is right. I found a similar situation and generated 11 new clients from one engagement by recognizing the systematic nature of the error and marketing specifically to accounts that fit the affected profile.
Nancy how did you approach those prospective clients without revealing confidential details from the original engagement?
Nancy again. I contacted prospects saying I had identified a billing configuration issue that affected commercial accounts in the territory that received meter replacements in a specific time period, and offered a free initial review. Did not name the original client or the specific error — just the pattern and the time window.