Case Study: Midwest Food Processor

Food processing is an energy-intensive business with very tight margins. That is why one cost-conscious meat industry leader turned to ERS Utility Solutions (ERS) for forensic bill auditing and comprehensive analysis of its utility charges and metering equipment. ERS delivered. It found and recovered more than $850,000 in past overcharges for natural gas and electricity, then corrected those errors for more than $220,000 per year in future savings!

PAIN POINTS & CHALLENGES

• There’s very little fat to trim in the budgets of most food producers.
• The industry is intensely competitive with very tight margins, especially as utility costs escalate.
• The business was struggling to stay competitive with the high costs of electricity and natural gas needed to power its energy-intensive operations.

​ERS UTILITY SOLUTIONS

• Onsite verification and documentation of meters, pressure regulators, digital compensators, digital totalizers, current and voltage transformers, and other calculating equipment
• Detailed analysis of billing rates and fees; taxes, tariffs and surcharges; demand charges and load factor; plus power quality and power factor issues
• State and federal regulatory reviews, including Public Utilities Commission (PUC) overlays
• Overcharge recovery and bill correction
• Ongoing utility cost management services for continued savings

OUTCOMES & BENEFITS

• $720,000+ in recovered overcharges for natural gas rate errors
• $145,000+ per year in ongoing savings with corrected natural gas rate.
• $130,000+ in recovered overcharges for electricity rate errors
• $75,000+ per year in ongoing savings with corrected electricity rate
• Elimination of recurring billing system issues with utility providers to prevent future errors

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BOTTOM LINE

As a result of the ERS Audit, this Food Processor secured more than $1 Million in recovered overcharges and savings - a number that continues to grow!

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