Just closed a case that took 18 months but resulted in $1.2M refund from Alliant Energy here in Iowa. Client was a large manufacturing facility being billed on Schedule LGS-3 but they were calculating coincident peak demand wrong for three years. The utility was using 15-minute intervals but applying ratchet provisions that should only apply to monthly peaks. Anyone else seen this type of error with Alliant or other MidAmerican subsidiaries? The key was getting historical interval data going back to 2009 and proving their billing system had a programming flaw.
Seven-figure refund from Alliant Energy - how we cracked their demand billing
Norm, that's fantastic! We had a similar issue with Ameren here in Missouri but only got back about $200K. Their billing system was double-counting demand charges during peak summer months. What was your approach to getting the historical interval data? Ameren fought us tooth and nail on anything older than 24 months.
Holy cow Norm, $1.2M is huge! Down here with Georgia Power we see demand billing errors but usually in the $50-100K range. Was this a case where you had to escalate to the Iowa Utilities Board or did Alliant cooperate once you showed them the calculation error?
Pam - we had to invoke the formal dispute process and threaten regulatory complaint. They finally turned over the data when their own engineers confirmed our analysis. Rachel - didn't need IUB involvement thankfully. Once we demonstrated the billing system flaw affected multiple customers, they got very cooperative. The settlement included fixing their software and auditing other large customers for the same error.
This gives me hope for a case I'm working on with PSO here in Oklahoma. Similar demand billing discrepancy but they're claiming their system is working correctly. Norm, did you bring in an outside engineer or handle the technical analysis yourself?
Ed - I partnered with a power systems engineer who specializes in utility metering. Worth every penny of his $15K fee when you're looking at seven figures in recovery. The technical credibility was crucial when presenting to Alliant's engineering team.
Norm, congratulations on the big win! I'm curious about the timeline - you mentioned 18 months total. How much of that was investigation versus actual dispute resolution? Working on a PSE&G case here in Jersey and trying to budget time appropriately.
Tony - about 8 months investigation and analysis, 10 months dispute and negotiation. The key was building an ironclad case before approaching them. Once we had all the documentation and expert analysis, the utility couldn't really argue. Patience paid off big time on this one!