Just wrapped up an audit at a pharma facility in New Jersey that's been getting hammered on their PSE&G bills. Turns out their 13.2kV service had the wrong CT ratio in the billing system - utility had them at 200:1 when the actual installation was 400:1. They've been getting billed for double their actual usage for almost 4 years. Recovery came to $180,000 plus interest.
Member Community
Enter your email to read this discussion
You're reading the AAUBA Member Forum — where Certified Utility Bill Auditors share case studies, tariff strategies, and industry insights.
Free to read. Enter your email to continue.
No spam. We'll send you one welcome email about CUBA certification. Unsubscribe any time.
Found 400:1 CT ratio error at pharmaceutical plant - $180K recovery
Holy cow Michelle! That's a big one. How did you catch it - was it obvious from the load patterns or did you have to dig into the metering records?
The dead giveaway was their kW demand readings seemed way too high for a facility that size. A 200,000 sq ft pharma plant showing 3,200 kW peak demand raised red flags. I requested the original meter installation records and sure enough, the CTs were 400:1 but PSE&G's billing system showed 200:1 from day one.
This is exactly why I always verify CT ratios on any industrial account over 1MW. PSE&G seems particularly prone to these errors on new service connections. Nice catch!