Utility Audit Companies - Energy Consultant

URS works with leading apartment development firms and merchant builders to streamline all aspects of utility services throughout the development process. From the moment ground is broken until an asset is turned over to property management, URS manages “all things utilities” and provides project management expertise. URS supports the development team and takes over the setup of utility services, selection and setup of resident billing provider, and optimization of resident billing to maximize NOI with the billing of the first resident.

Specific project management services and a high-level overview of the process include:

Identify jurisdictions where water submetering is required in new construction apartment projects. Assist in determining whether a RUB program would be preferable where no requirement is in place.
Select meter installation company to ensure coordination and RF pairing with the resident utility billing company. If a plumbing contractor is used, URS also assists in identification of meter numbers with installed units to avoid confusion in downstream transition to property management.
Solicit and evaluate proposals from utility billing companies and select company to provide the monthly billing service to residents.
Negotiate utility billing company contract to ensure optimal terms for client.
Setup and/or transfer of utilities to the proper legal entity name and billing address (including but not limited to: water/sewer, stormwater, trash, pest, cable, and phone). Coordinate transfer of information to the billing vendor and community. If the community is using a billing vendor to pay/process utility bills, manage the setup of the funding source by the billing vendor.
Setup online access for company and vendor, where applicable, for access to billing information.
Gather all rate information and determine most effective methodology for highest utility income recovery.
Provide entire setup of community’s account with the billing vendor: specifying fees, methodologies and any additional billing items.
Conduct a compliance review to ensure fees, methodologies and any additional billing items meet any jurisdictional regulatory requirements.
Review billing setup with regional, community manager and/or any specified corporate employee (e.g., project manager) for approval.
Provide billing setup to the billing vendor in timely fashion to allow earliest commencement of billing to residents.
Provide resident utility information to the community manager and communication tools to explain charges clearly to residents.
Review pre-billing reports prior to the first set of bills being sent to residents to ensure billing is as specified. Continue pre-bill review service over specified period of time contracted.
Provide support to manager in regard to utility billing. (Questions, issues with residents, etc.)
Perform seamless handoff to community manager to manage all utilities.

Satisfied Clients Saving Money

"URS began working with us in early 2008 and identified opportunities to increase our utility billbacks. For our Southern California portfolio, URS analyzed 4,265 units and increased our bottom line RUBS billing by over $400,000 annually. URS was easy to work with and facilitated the billing changes with our 3rd party utility vendor to optimize our utility reimbursements without any major disruptions to our residents."

Anna Cheng Kramer, Managing Director, Pacific Urban Residential
"URS' consulting and auditing has created nearly $2,000,000 annually for our portfolio of just over 14,000 units. The savings continued when we switched to their monthly monitoring service, with which we realized savings of $2,000 in billing errors within just one month. This is a company who truly understands flexibility and customer service. We are committed to creating value for our clients, and URS has helped us fulfill that commitment."

Deb Maietta, Senior Vice-President, Multi-Family Property Management, SARES-REGIS Group
"URS saved our properties over $200,000 in utility opportunities the first year we implemented their recommendations. This was a meaningful expense reduction benefit that helped increase the value of our assets. We were very pleased with their results."

Kim Small, Senior Vice President, Director of National Operations, The Morgan Group
"URS provides a specialized and unique service that has added several million dollars of value to our portfolio. URS reviewed the utility billing practices of our third party billing vendor, adding about $200,000 annually to our bottom line and correcting a number of compliance issues. They come from and understand our industry and deliver tangible results."

David Birnbaum, Managing Director, Griffis Group of Companies
Utility Revenue Services is a utility consultant that came to my attention in 2009. After checking their references, which were glowing, we engaged them to evaluate our portfolio. They have been instrumental in improving our RUBS collections, and identifying RUBS billing practices that exposed us to a potential class action lawsuit. Every member of their team is a pleasure to work with, they epitomize "customer service," and most importantly, they have contributed to improving the bottom line of many of our properties. I would encourage anyone who wants to improve their utility NOI to contact them."

John Gleason, Managing Director of Asset Management, Security Properties
"URS performed a number of services for us. Their utility audit of our billing vendor and our billing practices significantly increased our utility NOI. Their utility audit report was thorough and easy to read. What was most helpful to us was URS' report included a comprehensive legal analysis of what we could or could not do from a billing standpoint in every jurisdiction where we had a community. Without hesitation, I would recommend URS to anyone who reallocates utility expenses to their residents."

Kim Kurz, Director of Special Projects, YES! Communities
"Our management company partners always told us that they had a pretty good handle on our utility reallocation program. But after retaining Utility Revenue Services on a recommendation, I was stunned to see how much money we were leaving on the table. URS audited the billing practices of our third party billing vendors for quite a few of our 50 communities. Immediately, they were able to identify missed revenue opportunities even beyond simple billing adjustments. In a short period of time, URS' service increased our utility net operating income and increased the value of our assets. I wish I had run into them years earlier!"

Steve Radcliffe, Managing Director of Asset Services, McDowell Properties
"Utility Revenue Services provided our firm with much needed assistance identifying new and increased revenue from our resident utility billing. URS was comprehensive in their efforts and their knowledge of the various states regulations was critical. The value this firm added to our properties was immediately evident as our revenues increased and our residents remained satisfied. I would recommend URS to other property owners."

Linda Kaboth, Vice-President of Operations, GF Real Estate Group

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