Embarrassing mistake from my early days. Large hotel in Jacksonville had what looked like standard JEA billing but I only reviewed the monthly bills, not the service contract. Spent weeks analyzing rate schedule LGSRTD and found about $3K in small billing errors. Submitted my report feeling pretty good. Two weeks later the client calls furious - turns out they had a special negotiated contract with demand charge caps that I completely missed. My "billing errors" were actually the utility correctly applying the contract terms. Made me look incompetent and cost the client $35K in dispute costs with JEA. Now I read every word of every contract before touching the bills.
Didn't read the contract - cost client $35K
Beth, we've all been there. Austin Energy here has so many special contracts and riders that I now request all documentation upfront. Had a similar situation where the client had a negotiated interruptible service agreement that modified their demand billing. Spent days calculating "errors" that were actually contractual provisions. Learned to always ask for the complete service file before starting any analysis.
Georgia Power taught me the same lesson. Special contracts often have provisions that override the standard tariff, especially for large customers. Things like minimum bills, demand ratchets, or custom time-of-use periods. The monthly bills will never tell the whole story. Always get the master service agreement, any contract amendments, and special rate approvals before you start. Painful lesson but you only make it once.