A newly certified CUBA member in Oregon reached out asking if I'd mentor them. I'm in Oklahoma. I'd love to help but I know nothing about Oregon utilities — Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp, none of the tariff structures I'm familiar with. Can I still be an effective mentor from a different service territory?
Mentoring someone in another state
Absolutely. The audit methodology is universal — it doesn't change by state. How to read a tariff, how to compare rate schedules, how to verify demand calculations, how to check tax exemption status, how to file claims — all of that transfers. The tariff details are different but the process is the same. Mentor them on methodology and let them learn their local tariffs through hands-on experience. Review their first few audits the same way you'd review a junior analyst's work. You won't know if the Oregon tariff numbers are right but you can tell if the analytical approach is sound.
I mentor someone in Florida from Philadelphia and it works fine. We do monthly video calls where she walks me through her current audits and I ask questions. I can't verify FPL tariff details but I can spot logical errors in her analysis. "Why did you assume this rate is cheaper without calculating the demand component?" — that kind of coaching is universal.
That's encouraging. Going to set up a monthly call with the Oregon member. The methodology coaching is something I can definitely provide even without knowing PGE's tariff book.