Anyone work with seasonal businesses? I have a beach boardwalk restaurant that's closed 4 months a year but still getting hit with demand charges during the off-season. Bill drops from $3,800/month in summer to $1,200 in winter, but that winter amount seems high for a closed business.
Seasonal business billing
Ruben, definitely look into seasonal rate options. Most utilities have provisions for businesses that shut down seasonally. Also check if they're properly turning off non-essential equipment - I've seen restaurants leave freezers running all winter for no good reason.
And make sure they're not getting billed for demand based on equipment that's not even running. Had a similar case where demand charges were calculated on transformer capacity rather than actual usage during closed months.
Great points both. I'll dig into the demand charge calculation and see about seasonal rate options. Thanks!