Working on a manufacturing client in Youngstown on FirstEnergy territory. Their kWh usage is running about 40% higher than industry benchmarks for similar facilities. Load factor is decent at 0.78 but the sheer volume seems off. Anyone seen patterns like this with FirstEnergy's rate schedules? Wondering if there's something in the demand calculation I'm missing. Client is on Schedule GS-3 with a 2MW contract demand.
FirstEnergy usage benchmarking - seeing 40% over industry average
Jim - what's the facility age and have you looked at power factor? Georgia Power territory here but I've seen similar issues where old equipment was causing inefficiencies that showed up as usage anomalies versus benchmarks. Also check if they're on the right rate schedule - 2MW seems like they might qualify for a higher voltage class.
Derek makes a good point on rate schedule. In Duquesne Light territory I found a similar manufacturer was paying Schedule LPL when they should have been on Schedule HT. The demand charges alone were costing them $8,000/month extra. Have you run the numbers on what their bill would look like on FirstEnergy's higher voltage schedules?
Thanks guys. Checked the power factor - it's actually pretty good at 0.94. But Walt you might be onto something with the rate schedule. Looking at FirstEnergy's tariffs, they have Schedule HP-1 for customers over 1MW at transmission level. Going to run some calculations and see what the savings would be.
Jim, also worth checking seasonal patterns. Cleveland Electric Illuminating has some weird seasonal adjustments that can throw off benchmarking if you're not accounting for them properly. What months are you comparing? Manufacturing can have big seasonal swings that mess with standard benchmarks.
Frank's right about seasonal patterns. I use a 24-month rolling average for manufacturing benchmarks now. Also Jim, have you verified the meter readings? I had a FirstEnergy client where the meter multiplier was wrong for 8 months. Utility eventually credited back $23,000 but it sure made the usage look anomalous during that period.
Rachel - meter readings check out but great point on the multiplier. Going to have FirstEnergy verify that. Frank, comparing 12 months YoY so seasonal should be normalized. Still running 38-42% over benchmark depending on the month. This is looking more like an operational issue than a billing problem.
At that level of variance it's probably operational. But definitely pursue the rate schedule angle - even if usage is high, getting them on the right tariff could save serious money. Keep us posted on what you find with the HP-1 analysis.