We were started by community managers as a resource for other community managers dealing with increasing utility costs!
We are a dedicated company whose founders were originally community managers themselves.
As community managers, we had access to dozens of contractors and professionals for everything from repairs, landscaping, accounting, reserve studies, painting, legal advice etc. but NOBODY to contact about one of the top three annual budget costs – utilities!
The reason that we started this company in 1990 was to help community managers and board members have a resource and a contact for questions regarding utilities and increasing utility costs!
We saw a trend of increasing utility costs for communities and associations and responded to that need by starting Pacific Utility Audit.
Sitting in hundreds of monthly board meetings and annual budget meetings, we all noticed that there was definitely a trend of increasing utility costs, with no end in sight. Since 1990, utility expenses have continued to skyrocket as utility companies have outsourced, downsized, franchised and deregulated.
Community managers, board members and utility costs
The boards look to their community managers for who to contact when they need work performed or answers to questions they don’t know.
We were all trying to reduce these common-area utility expenses by retrofitting lights, installing photocells, planting drought tolerant landscaping, purchasing the most efficient gas boilers, replacing sprinkler heads with more efficient ones, purchasing weather-sensitive irrigation controllers, installing solar panels for pool heating, etc., but the results were often short term savings and then the rates would increase again.
When the boards asked us to review their utility bills to try to discover the source of ever-increasing costs, we did our best but really had no idea what we were looking at!
What can happen when community managers get involved with utility bills
Let me tell you a personal and true story to emphasize this point!
I managed one particular association that was always very concerned about their gas utility bill. They had good reason for this concern, as they used their gas for cooking, space heating and water heating for all of their 200 condominiums, and for their two recreation areas, and the gas bill always seemed high.
So, at the board’s request and insistence, I called the gas company to try and determine why their gas bill always seemed so high. They told me that they would send out the meter reader to reread the meter. This happened for many months.
On the day of their board meeting, I decided that I could not have the same “I don’t know” answer for the board for the 3rd month in a row! I cleared my desk and stared at their gas bill, hoping for a miracle. I stared at this association’s gas bill long enough that afternoon to notice that in small words on the utility bill it read “serves 300 baseline units”, and I remember thinking at that time: “I finally found the billing error!”, since they only had 200 condominiums!
When I explained this to the gas company representative on the phone that afternoon, there was a moment of silence before I heard these dreaded words: “The association has been undercharged. We will correct the billing and send you a retroactive gas utility bill for the difference in costs for the last three years. They will be allowed to make payment arrangements if they cannot afford to pay the full amount, as it will be substantial.”
Needless to say, we did not have the same conversation at that night’s board meeting, and the association received a retroactive billing adjustment of approximately $6,000.00, in addition to even higher monthly gas bills afterward!
What can community manager do to help reduce utility costs?
With the ever-escalating costs of utility services to associations, it is more important than ever for property managers and board members to know that they have done all that they can for their communities and residents to lower these costs.
As community managers, we had access to dozens of contractors and professionals for everything from repairs, landscaping, accounting, reserve studies, painting, legal advice etc. but NOBODY to contact about one of the top three annual budget costs – utilities!
The reason that we started this company in 1990 was to help community managers and board members have a resource and contact for increasing utility costs!
This has not changed since that time – we are still a company that is dedicated to helping other community managers to help their communities save money!
About Erin Kelly. . . . .
Erin Kelly, the Director Of Operations for Pacific Utility Audit, Inc., has been involved in the association industry for many years. As a prior property manager for commercial buildings, then apartments and finally with a management portfolio of fifteen associations to oversee, and now as an employee of Pacific Utility Audit, she has an insider’s knowledge and direct experience of the association industry. As one of the original founders of Pacific Utility Audit, Inc., her intent was to offer a utility auditing service in order to help other community managers who were facing the same type of problems that she had faced as a property manager in dealing with utility budgets and concerns. Her educational background includes a B.S. Degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, and an M.B.A. Degree in International Business, also from Pepperdine University. She currently works and writes for Pacific Utility Audit, Inc., and also does public speaking on occasion.