Working with a client that has locations in 15 states and wondering about portfolio-level authorizations. Some utilities seem open to a single LOA covering multiple accounts, others insist on individual authorizations for each location. Anyone have experience with which major utilities accept portfolio LOAs and which don't? Trying to streamline the authorization process.
National account vs individual location billing - which utilities allow portfolio LOAs?
Marilyn, in my experience Duke Energy is pretty good about portfolio LOAs if all accounts are under the same corporate entity. ConEd absolutely won't do it - they want individual LOAs for every account. ComEd is hit or miss depending on which customer service rep you get. I keep a spreadsheet of utility policies that I update as I learn their quirks.
Tina's right about the inconsistency. I've found that utilities with centralized commercial account management are more flexible on portfolio LOAs. Smaller municipal utilities often have no process for it at all. For major chains, it's worth asking about a master service agreement that covers future audits too.
Thanks Tina and Duane. That utility policy spreadsheet sounds invaluable - might start building one myself. Duane, good point about the master service agreements. This client does regular audits so that could save a lot of paperwork down the road.
Great discussion. For anyone building utility policy databases, I'd recommend also tracking which utilities have online portals that support third-party access and which still require paper LOAs. The industry is slowly modernizing but the pace varies dramatically by utility. Some are fully digital, others still fax everything.