You just received your Bill Health Check report – now what? Read on for more details about the different issues we surface, what they mean for your bottom line, and how to get them resolved.

Pro tip: Use the Table of Contents to easily navigate through relevant report findings.

Bill Health Score

Your Bill Health Score indicates how close you are to your lowest possible bill. An  “A” score means that you’re doing all the right things to save money on electricity, while an  “F” means we’ve found some potentially serious issues to address. Somewhere in the middle? You’re likely overspending or missing out on potential savings.

Factors that go into your Bill Health Score include:

• Suspicious activity, like unauthorized supplier changes or bill spikes
• Bill errors, like a rate class change or faulty meter
• Potential savings, like re-evaluating high supply rates, enrolling in incentive programs, and monitoring usage

If you didn’t get a high score, that’s okay! Electric bills are confusing for most people, making errors, scams, and savings opportunities hard to catch. Read on to learn our recommendations for how to resolve common issues, and if you’re still unsure about what to do next, we’re here to help.

What the Health Check Findings mean – and how to resolve them

Your Bill Health Check scans for flags across various areas. If you had a flag on your bill, review the items below to learn more about what it is, what it means, and how to resolve it.

Suspicious activity

From slamming scams to sudden rate hikes, we’ve seen it all. Bill Health Check scans your uploaded bills for what your “normal” bill looks like and, when something looks odd, we flag it.

Below are the issues we flag as “suspicious activity”. If your Health Check detected one of these on a bill, read on to learn more about what it is – and how to fix it.

Supplier changes

What it is: If your business is located in a deregulated electricity market (hint: if you’re reading this, it probably is), you have the option to choose the company that supplies your electricity. This gives you the benefit of shopping around for an affordable rate, but it also means the possibility of a “slamming” scam – when your supplier and rate are changed without your consent. We flag any supplier changes detected on your bill to ensure you haven’t fallen victim to one of these scams. 

Why it matters: If you find yourself a victim of slamming, it could mean that you’re being charged abnormally high rates. The worst part? Slams often go unnoticed on confusing and overlooked bills, so you’re likely to have been overpaying for weeks or months.

How to resolve it: Call your utility to switch back to their standard supply rate or choose a reputable electricity retailer who offers a fixed supply rate. If you choose an electricity retailer, first confirm with your utility that you’re switching suppliers. After you’ve switched back to the utility or retailer supply rate, request a block on your account to prevent future slams – and for always-on protection, try David Energy’s Bill Monitoring solution.

Tip: If you’re concerned you may have fallen victim to a slamming scam, upload your past 6-12 months of bills into Bill Health Check. That way, we can scan for scams that may have happened a while ago and gone unnoticed.

Sudden bill spikes

What it is: A bill spike is any sudden increase in your total electric bill. It’s often due to higher usage that month or a change in rates.

Why it matters: You’ve likely felt the sticker shock of a skyrocketing electric bill – and the helplessness of not knowing why it happened or how to lower it. The first step? Identifying the spike and what’s an unusual increase. Then, you can focus on understanding when and how often bill spikes happen to  figure out how to prevent them in the future. 

How to resolve it: Check your equipment and devices – is anything broken and sucking up energy? If not, you could also work with a reputable electricity retailer to switch from the utility index (aka “variable”) rate to a fixed rate. The less bill spikes, the more predictable your budget.

Need help diagnosing the cause of your bill spike? Let a David Energy rep help you out with a free consultation.

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Bill errors

Mistakes happen, especially when you’re dealing with an organization as large as your utility. But if you don’t know what to look for, it can be impossible to know when something isn’t right.

Rate class change

What it means: Your rate class is based on the size of your space and electricity usage, and it has a major effect on how much you pay in Demand charges (learn more about Demand here). Changes to your rate class typically happen when you open a new location, experience a significant increase in demand, extend your operating hours, or add new equipment.

Why it matters: If none of these changes are true for your business and we’ve detected a rate class change, you could have a metering error. These errors can cost you: We detected a rate class change on the bill of a 20-location coffee shop chain that turned out to be an error. After  disputing the error with the utility, they received a $120,000 reimbursement from being incorrectly charged for months.

How to resolve it: Call your utility and ask for a meter read to ensure your rate class is correct.

Zero meter read

What it means: A zero meter read is when your electricity meter shows no usage for a period of time. Bill Health Check scans for this because it could indicate a broken meter or an incorrect reading by the utility. 

Why it matters: If your meter is broken or there’s an error in the reading, you could be charged for the wrong amount of electricity. Worst case, the utility could be using estimated meter reads –  meaning you could get hit with  a painful true-up charge in the future. If the bill is 0 and the meter gets fixed later on, you could be responsible for back charges.

How to resolve it: Call your utility and ask for a meter read or fix before potential charges add up.

Potential savings

Smart energy spend management isn’t just about fixing errors; it also means proactively taking advantage of opportunities to save more. 

Fixing high supply rates

What it means: Did you know electricity rates are largely determined by electricity markets? Similar to the stock market, rates go up and down depending on various factors such as fuel costs, time of the day and year, and local regulations. When we flag a “high supply rate”, it means that you may be paying well above the current market rates.

Why it matters: You could be overpaying if your rates haven’t recently been checked against market trends.

How to resolve it: Evaluate a few reliable electricity retailers and ask for a rate consultation to understand what you should be paying and how you compare to the current market rate. A team with experienced market analysts will recommend the right rate at the right time. Get a free consultation from our team here to find out how your rate stacks up.

Enrolling in incentive programs

What it means: Many utilities offer Demand Response programs, or incentive programs that pay homes and businesses to reduce their energy usage during high-demand times (i.e. summer). When we run a Bill Health Check, we’ll let you know if your utility offers them and how to get started.

Why it matters: Demand Response programs are an easy way to make extra money, especially if you’re already committed to managing your energy spend and usage. David Energy makes it a hands-off experience for you by taking care of enrollment for your business – and remotely managing participation in savings events through our software.

How to resolve it: Check your utility’s website for Demand Response programs. You can sign up yourself, or reach out to an electricity partner like us to take care of enrollment for you.

Monitoring usage

What it means: The amount of electricity you use affects the total bill you have to pay, so one of the top strategies for reducing your bill is lowering your electricity consumption. We analyze your HVAC usage patterns to help you understand how and when your business typically uses the most energy. We focus on HVAC because it typically accounts for about half of a business’s total energy spend.

Why it matters: Some spikes in usage happen because of regular business activity, while others could be due to a thermostat that was left on too low or an event that ran late. Whatever the reason, knowing what “normal” HVAC usage for your business looks like helps keep energy costs under control.

How to resolve it: If you haven’t already, install smart thermostats. They enable remote management, making it easy to monitor and control HVAC usage. Take it a step further by leveraging a platform like ours that includes remote thermostat management, a multi-location dashboard, and “Auto-Reset” to automatically control thermostat settings everyday.

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Hopefully by now, your bills are feeling clearer and you have a good sense of what's gone wrong and where things could be improved. We know that resolving some of these issues can feel daunting, so we're here to help. If you're looking for expert help to guide you through, book your free consultation below.