Just finished an audit where ComEd had our manufacturing client on the wrong TOU schedule for 18 months. They were applying Schedule GDS-4 peak hours (11am-7pm) when the client should have been on GDS-3 (9am-9pm weekdays only). The rate differential cost them $23,400 in overcharges. ComEd's interval data clearly showed most usage was weekends and evenings, but nobody caught the misapplication. Has anyone else seen this type of schedule mix-up with ComEd lately?
ComEd TOU schedule completely wrong - lost $23K
Yuri, that's brutal but not surprising. We had a similar issue with FirstEnergy here in Cleveland last year. They put a retail chain on the wrong TOU window and it took 8 months to catch it. The utility's own billing system should flag these mismatches automatically. What was ComEd's response when you presented the analysis?
This is exactly why I always verify the TOU schedule against the actual tariff filing before starting any interval analysis. Eversource up here has had similar problems with their new smart meter deployments. The meter data is accurate but the billing system applies wrong rate windows. Did you get a full credit from ComEd?
Frank - ComEd admitted the error immediately once I showed them the tariff comparison. They're processing a full credit plus interest. Vince - you're absolutely right about verifying upfront. I've started including tariff verification as a standard step in my TOU audits. The billing system automation is only as good as the initial setup.
We see this constantly with TVA industrial customers in East Tennessee. The TOU windows change seasonally and the utilities don't always update their systems correctly. Had one client overpay $15K because summer peak hours weren't updated in the billing system until July. Always check the seasonal transitions carefully.
Terry brings up a great point about seasonal transitions. Ameren Missouri has been particularly bad about this. Their summer TOU schedule should start June 1st but last year it didn't kick in until June 15th in their billing system. Cost several of my clients thousands in incorrect off-peak billing during those two weeks.
PG&E has similar seasonal update issues out here in California. The key is to pull interval data right at the transition dates and verify the rate application matches the published schedule. I've found errors on about 15% of my TOU audits during seasonal changeovers. The utilities just don't have good quality control processes.
Great thread everyone. I'm going to start doing quarterly TOU schedule verifications for all my interval meter clients. The potential savings clearly justify the extra time investment. Yuri, thanks for sharing this case study.