Over the course of the past few months, I’ve been conducting the 2025 Utility Fee Survey. This is the sixth Utility Fee Survey, dating to 2015, with subsequent fee surveys in 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023. The survey was designed […]
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Utility Billing
When doing a business review, one of the questions I ask is, does the utility leave a door hanger when disconnecting a customer for non-payment? During a recent business review, one general manager related a harrowing story of precisely why […]
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Recently, a long-time newsletter subscriber reached out to me asking if I had any experience with utilities going cashless. Her concern is that it takes her staff about half an hour each day to balance their cash drawers and make […]
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Larger water meters – generally two-inch and larger – often have a different registration than residential meters. These meters use a billing multiplier to convert the registered usage to gallons. If this multiplier is incorrectly entered in the billing system, […]
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As mentioned in a previous post, I’m a big Carolina Hurricanes fan. What Tripp Tracy would call a “Huge Caniac”! Before I explain how a hockey team relates to your utility business office, please indulge me in asking a favor… […]
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I recently completed a business review for a utility that tracks several payment trends. One of these is shown in the graph below (clicking on the graph will open a larger image in a new window). Do you track this […]
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Are you using IPAWS alerts? Do you even know what an IPAWS alert is? (Hint, it’s not an Apple product for dogs!) If you’re like me, you are likely familiar with them, but never knew what they are called. Boil […]
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Are you charging all the fees you could be…? How does your fee schedule compare with other utilities…? If you’ve ever wondered about these questions, here’s your opportunity to find out! You’re invited to participate in the 2025 Utility Fee […]
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Many utilities (rightfully so) maintain separate bank accounts for operating funds and security deposits. When you apply a customer’s security deposit and they are due a refund, are you writing two checks from your security deposit bank account? One to […]
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As we approach the New Year, I want to take a moment to thank you for your support over the course of the past year and wish you a very Happy New Year for 2025! During 2025, I will celebrate […]
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