Frequently asked questions
About utility bill audits, fees, refunds, timing and how we work. Can't find your question? Call (801) 826-4800.
All questions
What is a utility bill audit?
A review of a company's historical electricity and natural gas invoices to find billing errors, misapplied tariffs, meter discrepancies and corporate classification errors. Discovery Energy performs these audits for commercial and industrial clients on contingency, recovering eligible refunds and lowering future costs.
What does Discovery Energy do?
Discovery Energy Utility Audits (deaudits.com) audits utility bills for multi-site commercial and industrial clients, and provides tariff optimization, account classification analysis, energy procurement, bill pay with GL coding, TaraBase reporting and renewable advisory, together called Utility Cost Intelligence.
Is Discovery Energy the same as Discovery Energy Corp.?
No. Discovery Energy Corp. (OTC: DENR) is an unrelated oil and gas company. Discovery Energy Utility Audits is a utility bill audit firm in South Jordan, Utah, founded in 2000.
Which billing errors are most common?
Wrong rate classes, incorrect meter multipliers, misapplied tariffs and seasonal dates, incorrect peak demand charges, ghost meters, unauthorized line fees, overlapping billing periods and corporate classification errors. See the billing error library.
How much can a company save?
Recoveries have most often equaled 3% to 15% of annual utility spend. Results depend on facility size, spend, billing history, jurisdiction and the errors found.
How much does an audit cost?
No upfront fee. Discovery is paid a pre-agreed percentage, usually 15% to 50%, of verified refunds and savings. If nothing qualifying is found, the audit costs nothing. See pricing.
Who keeps the recovered money?
The client, less the agreed contingency fee. Future savings from corrected rates also belong to the client.
How are recovered amounts calculated?
As the difference between what was billed and what should have been billed under the correct tariff, rate class, meter reading, multiplier or classification, verified against published rate schedules before a claim is filed.
How far back can errors be corrected?
Discovery typically reviews 36 to 48 months of bills. The recoverable period is typically 1 to 5 years, set by each state and utility, set by Public Utility Commission rules and the utility's limitation period.
How long does an audit take?
Initial findings and straightforward claims usually arrive in 30 to 60 days. Formal regulatory refunds or rate changes can take a further 60 to 120 days, depending on the utility and jurisdiction. These are estimates, not guarantees.
What do we need to provide?
A signed letter of authorization and recent bills for the locations being reviewed. The authorization lets Discovery obtain historical billing records and interval data directly from each utility.
Does an audit disrupt operations or service?
No. Audits are off-site reviews of digital records. No hardware is installed, service is never interrupted, and you stay with your utility unless you approve a separate change.
Will an audit affect our relationship with the utility?
No. A billing review is a routine inquiry supported by account records and published rules. It does not trigger an investigation of your operations.
How do you keep claims compliant and audit-ready?
Each claim cites the applicable PUC rules, tariff sheets and program requirements and is reviewed by a specialist before it is filed.
Do you audit in regulated states?
Yes. Rate, tariff and billing review applies in every market. Regulated-state accounts are often the least reviewed.
Can automated billing systems still make mistakes?
Yes. Automation repeats whatever configuration it holds, including wrong multipliers, outdated rate classes and unreconciled estimates.
What is the difference between procurement and an audit?
Procurement is forward-looking and sets future supply prices. An audit is backward-looking and checks whether bills were calculated correctly. See the comparison.
Should bills be reviewed before renewing an energy contract?
Yes. Otherwise errors in rate class, multipliers or classification become part of the baseline used to judge supply bids.
Who inside a company usually owns utility costs?
Finance, facilities or operations leadership. Few internal teams have the tariff and PUC-rule expertise to find billing errors, so many use an outside specialist.
Who should approve an audit?
Usually the CFO or controller, or operations leadership, someone with authority to sign the letter of authorization and accept the engagement terms.
How often should bills be audited?
Many large facilities benefit from a full audit every two to three years, plus a review after an expansion, major equipment change, meter replacement, acquisition or utility rate restructuring.
How do companies choose an audit firm?
Compare fee structure, experience with similar facilities, compliance process, reporting transparency, data security, references and scope. See five questions to ask.
What is TaraBase?
Discovery's proprietary platform for consolidating invoices, usage, contracts and savings across locations, with dashboards for finance, operations and sustainability teams.
Do you advise on renewable energy?
Yes: RECs, PPAs, and on-site or community solar, judged on financial merit and tracked in TaraBase. Discovery does not develop projects.
What industries do you work with?
Manufacturing, chemical distribution, food and protein processing, agribusiness, steel and metals, logistics and industrial services, cold storage and other multi-site commercial organizations.
Find out what your bills should have cost.
Send one recent bill per site, or a list of accounts. We tell you where we expect findings before you sign anything. No upfront audit fee.