Just wrapped up a painful lesson with a PECO industrial client in Philly. Spent weeks analyzing their GS rate and found what I thought was $47,000 in overcharges on demand billing. Submitted my findings to PECO feeling pretty confident. Turns out I completely misunderstood how their demand billing determinant works on the GS tariff - the 85% ratchet applies differently than I calculated. PECO politely schooled me and now I look like an amateur. Anyone else have war stories about demand billing mistakes? This one stings because the client was so excited about the potential savings.
My $47K PECO mistake - check your demand billing determinants!
Oh man, Phil, we've all been there! Duke Energy got me on a similar mistake back in 2011 with their Schedule LGS. I mixed up how the seasonal demand ratchet worked versus the 12-month rolling average. The client was a textile mill in Charlotte and I had calculated nearly $30K in savings that simply didn't exist. Duke's rate analyst was very professional about it but I felt about two inches tall. The key lesson for me was to always call the utility first when dealing with complex demand provisions.
Derek's right about calling first. I learned this the hard way with Oncor here in Dallas. Was working on a Schedule LG-2 analysis and didn't realize their demand billing had changed in the tariff revision six months prior. Calculated $23K in overcharges using the old methodology. Oncor corrected me but it taught me to always verify I'm using the current tariff version. Now I download fresh copies for every audit and check the effective dates twice.
NV Energy caught me making a basic multiplication error on a Schedule GS-2 customer in Vegas. I had transposed two digits in my spreadsheet and calculated $18,500 in demand overcharges when it was actually just $1,850. The embarrassing part was I had presented it to the client before double-checking my math. Now I always have someone else review my calculations before any client presentation. Simple mistakes can be just as costly as complex ones.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) taught me about time-of-use period mistakes. I was analyzing a Schedule GS-TOD account and confused the summer peak hours with the winter ones. Calculated demand charges wrong for eight months of data. The client got excited about $31K in potential refunds that turned out to be phantom savings. SMUD's customer service rep walked me through it step by step. Now I create a reference sheet for every utility's TOU periods before starting any analysis.
Tennessee Valley Authority indirect service through Nashville Electric taught me about power factor penalties the hard way. I missed that the customer had a chronic low power factor issue that triggered additional demand charges under Schedule GSA. I was focused on the base demand rate and missed the penalty entirely. What I thought was a $22K overcharge was actually justified. The lesson: always check power factor data when it's available on the bills.
Public Service Company of Oklahoma got me on a fuel adjustment clause mistake. I was challenging what looked like inconsistent fuel charges on a large Schedule LPL customer, but I didn't understand their monthly true-up mechanism. Spent hours building a case for $15K in overcharges only to learn the adjustments were perfectly legitimate under their tariff. PSO's rep was patient but I felt foolish. The takeaway: fuel adjustments can be complex and require understanding the entire calculation methodology.
These stories make me feel better about my own mistakes! Ohio Edison (now FirstEnergy) corrected me on a mistake with their Economic Development Rate rider. I thought a manufacturing client was being overcharged $12,800 but I had misunderstood the qualification criteria. The reduced rate was actually being applied correctly. It taught me to always verify special rate qualifications before challenging them. Thanks for sharing these, Phil - helps us all learn from each other's experiences.