Hi everyone! Jennifer R from Sacramento, CA. Just got my CUBA certification last month and I'm trying to figure out where to start. My background is in commercial property management — I managed a portfolio of about 30 office buildings in the Sacramento area for the last 12 years. SMUD and PG&E territory. I noticed over the years that our utility bills seemed inconsistent but nobody ever questioned them. When I started digging, I found errors on almost every account. That's what led me here.
Newbie from California - hi!
Welcome, Jennifer! California is one of the best markets for utility auditing — high rates, complex tariffs, and a massive commercial building stock. Start with your existing contacts in property management. — Randy D
Randy's right. California is where I work too and there's no shortage of opportunities. SMUD vs PG&E are very different animals though. Which are you focusing on? — Dan W
Another California member here — Rodney J from Bakersfield, CA. Welcome! My biggest piece of advice: get comfortable reading PG&E's tariff book. It's a monster but once you understand the rate schedule options, the errors jump out at you.
Welcome to the group! 12 years in property management is a huge advantage. You already understand building operations, tenant relationships, and operating expense budgets. — Nancy P
Jennifer, one thing that helped me when I was starting — pick a specific building type and become the expert. When you can speak the language of a specific industry, clients trust you faster. — Pete T
Thanks everyone! I'm mostly PG&E territory — about 22 of the 30 buildings were PG&E and the rest were SMUD. Rodney, that's great advice about the tariff book. Pete, I think offices are my natural niche since that's what I know best.
Office buildings are a great niche. A lot of them are on Schedule A-10 when they should be on E-19 or vice versa, depending on demand. Do you have access to any of your old buildings' bills for practice? — Rachel K
I actually still have contacts at most of the management companies. A couple have already said they'd let me look at their bills informally. Is that a good way to build case studies?
Absolutely — just make sure you get a proper LOA even for informal reviews. The LOA protects both you and the building owner. — Phil G
Good call on the LOA. Jennifer, I'd also recommend joining your local BOMA chapter if you haven't already. Perfect networking for landing auditing clients. — Marcus T
I'm actually already a BOMA member from my property management days. Never thought of it as a prospecting channel for auditing. Time to update my business cards.
There you go — you're already networked into your target market. Just be straightforward about what you do. That pitch about working on contingency with no cost unless you find savings — it works. — Angela R
One more thing — California has specific CPUC rules about lookback periods for utility refund claims. Worth researching before you promise clients anything about how far back you can recover. — Frank E
This is all incredible advice. Quick question — what contingency percentage should I be charging? I've seen everything from 25% to 50% mentioned on this forum.
I started at 50% of the first year's savings and dropped to 40% once I had a track record. California market can support 40-50% for new auditors because the savings tend to be large given the high rates. — Pete T
Thank you all SO much. I'm going to reach out to my BOMA contacts this week and start with informal bill reviews. Will report back with updates!
Looking forward to hearing how it goes, Jennifer. Don't be a stranger — post your questions as they come up. Welcome aboard! — Randy D