The Utility Invoice Audit Alert will inform the user of identified billing problems and anomalies warranting attention prior to authorization for payment.
The alert will search for and process non-purchase order invoices with status UA10 (system status is U). UA10 is a status code that should be added to the list of status codes for entity NIST. The description for UA10 is recommended to say, ‘Ready for Audit’. Other description values are obviously possible and depend on your preference. After processing if the invoice passes or fails a new status will be assigned. The defaults are UA20 for fail and UA30 for pass.
The alert will search for the following conditions and report accordingly on the selected invoices:
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No conversion rate found between commodity UOM and the utility bill record. For example, when the bill is recorded in BTU and the commodity is presented in kWh a conversion value needs to be available.
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Overlaps or Gaps between billing periods start dates and end dates.
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No weather normalization data available for present. When comparing billing periods, it is always better to remove the weather-related load. Without weather data the comparisons are still executed but they may be influenced by weather. A hotter July than last year therefore explains the difference. With the weather normalization we try to compare apples to apples.
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Difference between the previous billing period (last month) Average Daily Consumption and the current billing cycle Average Daily Consumption is reported if over a certain percentage or absolute dollar value.
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Difference between the previous billing period Rate and the current billing cycle Rate is reported if over a certain percentage or absolute dollar value.
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Difference between the previous billing period Average Demand and the Peak Demand listed on the current bill is reported if over a certain percentage or absolute value.
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Difference between the Billed consumption versus the Measured Difference is reported if over a certain percentage or absolute value. Obviously, this condition can only be reported on if the consumption is sub-metered.
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Difference between the current billing cycle Average Daily Consumption and the last year Average Daily Consumption over the same period is reported if over a certain percentage or absolute dollar value.
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Difference between the current billing cycle Rate and the last year Average Rate over the same period is reported if over a certain percentage or absolute dollar value.
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Difference between the Peak Demand listed on the current bill last year Average Demand over the same period is reported if over a certain percentage or absolute value.
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Difference between the measured Peak Demand and the invoiced Peak Demand over the billing period is reported if over a certain percentage or absolute value.
Benefits derived from this alert:
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Audits - Identifies billing problems warranting immediate attention prior to payments and alerts notify the user of missing bills.
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Benchmarking - Helps identify where to focus energy management efforts and enables setting realistic energy management goals.
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Load Factor Analysis - Identifies meter or billing problems, informs user whether they should focus on reducing energy or demand and may help identify buildings or operations that are leaving their equipment on during off hours.
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Weather Normalization - Removes variation due to changes in weather in year to year comparisons thereby giving a true picture of increases or decreases in energy usage and allows accurate tracking of savings due to energy conservation projects.
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Peak Demand Analysis - Informs user whether they should focus on process and control modifications.