Fellow auditors - I need some perspective on this MLGW hospital account that's showing bizarre usage patterns. 450-bed facility that normally runs 4.2M kWh annually just spiked to 6.8M kWh over the past 12 months. That's 62% above their historical average and way beyond any reasonable benchmark for similar facilities. MLGW claims meters are accurate but something is seriously wrong here. We're talking about $340K in excess charges on Schedule H rate. Hospital administration is freaking out and honestly so am I. Anyone seen anomalies this extreme?
Massive Hospital Usage Anomaly - MLGW Account
Calvin, that's a massive jump. I'm also Memphis-based and familiar with MLGW hospital accounts. Have they added any new wings, MRI equipment, or data centers? Major medical equipment can add 500-1000 kW loads overnight. Also check if they've switched to electric heating/cooling in areas that previously used steam or gas.
I audit hospital accounts here in Chattanooga with EPB. That percentage increase screams equipment malfunction or unauthorized load additions. Demand profile should tell the story - look for continuous base load increases or new peak patterns. Could be something as simple as a chiller running 24/7 due to controls failure.
Calvin, from Spokane with Avista experience - hospitals here have had issues with steam sterilization systems failing and switching to backup electric units without realizing the consumption impact. Also seen problems with emergency generators being accidentally paralleled and running unnecessarily. Check their maintenance logs for any recent "repairs" or equipment swaps.
Gary here from Richmond - Dominion territory. Had a similar case where hospital IT department installed cryptocurrency mining equipment in unused basement space without facilities management knowing. Sounds crazy but it happens. Also verify no unauthorized tenants or departments have added high-load equipment like server farms or lab equipment.
Updates: Sandra and Brenda were right about equipment issues. Found three problems - backup chiller stuck in cooling mode (running year-round), new MRI suite they didn't tell me about, and the big one: facilities management bypassed variable frequency drives on air handlers "temporarily" 8 months ago and forgot to restore them. Combined load impact around 850 kW continuous. Still investigating if MLGW billing is 100% accurate but at least we found the usage sources.
Calvin, that VFD bypass issue is unfortunately common. Here in Boise with Idaho Power we see facilities teams disable energy efficiency controls during emergencies and never re-enable them. The 850 kW continuous load explains most of your anomaly - that's about 7.4M kWh annually right there.
Excellent detective work Calvin. The MRI suite should have been disclosed during commissioning - that's typically 200-400 kW depending on the model. Make sure hospital gets proper change-of-service documentation from MLGW for rate schedule adjustments. Duke Energy here in Cincinnati requires notification within 30 days of major load additions.
Calvin, document everything for potential billing dispute. Entergy here in New Orleans has been reasonable about adjustments when customers can prove equipment malfunctions caused excess usage. The VFD bypass especially - that's clearly a maintenance failure not normal operations.
Thanks everyone for the guidance. Hospital is implementing controls to prevent future bypasses and MLGW is reviewing the rate schedule for the MRI addition. Still pushing for partial credits on the VFD issue since it was clearly equipment malfunction. This case is definitely going in my "lessons learned" file - always verify control system status during facility walkthroughs.
Calvin, great case study and excellent follow-through. This type of multi-factor analysis is exactly what separates professional auditors from basic bill reviewers. The VFD bypass issue alone probably cost them $180K over 8 months. Document the whole process for a conference presentation - other auditors need to see this methodology.