Just signed an engagement with a restaurant group in Arizona that has 34 locations across AZ, NM, and west Texas. They're served by APS, SRP, TEP, PNM, El Paso Electric, and a couple of small co-ops. I'm trying to figure out the LOA situation — do I need 34 separate LOAs? One per utility? One master LOA that covers everything? Some of these utilities probably have their own forms. Anyone managed a multi-state portfolio LOA before?
Drafting LOAs for clients with 30+ locations across multiple states
I've done a few portfolio clients like that. Here's what works for me: I create one master LOA that lists the client's legal entity name, states that the authorization covers all utility accounts held by that entity or its subsidiaries, and includes a table listing every account number organized by utility and service address. Then I also carry blank copies of utility-specific TPV forms for the big ones that insist on their own paperwork. APS definitely has their own form. SRP might accept a generic one. PNM I think accepts generic. The co-ops will vary wildly. Budget extra time for data collection on this one — I'd say 3-4 weeks minimum before you have everything you need.
For Texas specifically, the ERCOT market utilities like Oncor and AEP Texas will want the REP (retail electric provider) LOA, not the utility LOA. The REP is who actually bills the customer in deregulated Texas. So you might need an LOA to the REP for billing data and a separate request to the TDU for usage and demand data. It's a mess the first time but once you have the template down it goes faster. El Paso Electric is still regulated so they're more straightforward.
Thanks Derek and the rest. So I'm looking at potentially 34 individual LOAs plus maybe 6-8 utility-specific forms on top of that. That's a lot of paper to push before I even start looking at bills. Should I be charging the client for this data collection phase or is this just part of the engagement?
I handle it differently — I bill data collection separately. For a portfolio that size I'd charge a flat fee, maybe $1,500-2,000, for the data collection and organization phase. Non-refundable, paid upfront. If I find savings (and with 34 locations I almost certainly will), the contingency fees on the savings more than make up for it. But I'm not spending 40 hours chasing LOAs and downloading bills for free. The flat fee also signals to the client that this is real professional work, not just a quick glance at their invoices.
David raises an important point about valuing your data collection time. For large portfolios I agree that a setup fee or data collection fee is appropriate. I'd also suggest building a simple spreadsheet tracker — one row per account, columns for utility name, account number, LOA sent date, LOA received date, data requested date, data received date. With 34 locations across six utilities you will lose track without a system. Color code it: red for outstanding, yellow for in progress, green for complete. When you can show the client that tracker in your next meeting it also demonstrates professionalism.