Working on a chain of retail stores here in Louisville and seeing something weird. Three locations all showing 35-40% usage spikes starting in June compared to same period last year. No new equipment, no operational changes, weather was actually milder. LG&E is saying their meters are fine but these jumps are way outside normal variance. Anyone else seeing anomalies like this with Louisville Gas & Electric? Looking at their GS-1 rate schedule and the demand charges alone are killing these clients.
LG&E commercial accounts - usage jumped 40% with no equipment changes?
Jack, that's a huge red flag. I'd demand meter tests on all three locations immediately. Georgia Power tried to pull something similar on one of my Atlanta clients last year - turned out to be a programming error in their new AMI system that was double-counting certain intervals. Don't let them brush you off with "meters are fine" - get the actual test results in writing.
Derek's right about demanding tests. But also check if LG&E changed any multipliers or CT ratios during maintenance. I had a Charlotte client with Duke Energy where they "upgraded" the meter installation and screwed up the multiplier - usage went up 50% overnight. Took three months to get them to admit the error and another two months to get refunds processed.
Here in Memphis I've seen MLGW have issues with their meter reading software after system updates. Could be something similar with LG&E. Also worth checking - did they change the billing determinant or rate classification on any of these accounts? Sometimes they'll quietly shift accounts to higher rate classes during "routine reviews."
Jack, definitely get interval data for the past 24 months if possible. Westar Energy here in Kansas had a similar issue where their demand interval recording was off by exactly one hour due to a software glitch. The usage spike pattern should tell you if it's metering, billing, or actual consumption. If it's all three stores simultaneously, that's almost certainly a utility-side issue.
Had something similar with Indianapolis Power & Light couple years back. Turned out they had recalibrated their transformer loss factors and didn't notify anyone. Added about 3% to everyone's bills in that area. Check if LG&E filed any tariff amendments or loss factor updates with the Kentucky PSC around that time.
Update: Got the meter test results back and Derek was right - two of the three meters were reading high due to a CT calibration issue. LG&E is finally admitting fault and processing refunds. Total overcharges came to $8,400 across the three accounts. Thanks everyone for pushing me to not accept their first "everything is fine" response!
Great outcome Jack! Always document everything and never accept "the meter is working fine" without seeing actual test data. That $8,400 refund probably saved your client relationship too. How long did LG&E say the refund processing would take?