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Utility Bill Clean-up. Sustainable Ops – Open Mic Webinar October 20, 2010. What? Why? How?. What is a utility bill clean-up? Why is it important? How can it help you? How can we support getting them done across the FS?. What is a utility bill clean-up?.
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Utility Bill Clean-up Sustainable Ops – Open Mic Webinar October 20, 2010
What? Why? How? • What is a utility bill clean-up? • Why is it important? • How can it help you? • How can we support getting them done across the FS?
What is a utility bill clean-up? • It is a thorough review of all utility accounts on a National Forest unit. • Utility accounts are set up in TUMS to facilitate payment by NFC. • Many utility accounts are not monitored after initial entry; circumstances change and the status of utility accounts should be monitored to reflect these changes. • Eliminate idle accounts, verify utility rate structure, verify tax exempt status, verify ownership and payment responsibility.
Why is it important? • It allows you to reliably monitor the cost and consumption of energy on your unit. • Reducing improper payments results in cost savings.
How can it help you? • There is an increased emphasis on reducing energy and water consumption in federal facilities. • Executive Orders 13423 and 13514 • Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) • Energy Policy Act of 2005 • It will help build a baseline of use that will assist decision making and provide a benchmark against which future progress can be measured. • Eliminating improper payments will simplify data tracking and save money.
Findings – San Juan Case Study • Total utility accounts – 124 (natural gas, electric, water, sewer) • Accounts requiring changes – 56 (45%) • Top 2 most likely changes: • Change to tax exempt status • Disconnect service to conveyed/vacated properties • Approximate annual savings realized • $32,000/$171,000 (19%) • Monitoring utility costs is a dynamic process. • Initial cleanup will uncover obvious errors. • Conveying/vacating facilities and concessionaire/contractor changes are ongoing activities. Link to San Juan Case Study
Clean-up Process • Obtain a copy of the NFC Utilities Semi-annual status report • Contact vendors for copies of utility bills • Compare the two and follow up on discrepancies • There are tools to help you
How can we support getting them done across the FS? • Western Collective “Utility Bill Clean-up” Team has developed a Standard Operating Procedure to provide guidance for the cleanup process. • WO letter out last week encourages units to complete a clean-up. • We can raise awareness of the need for clean-up and the potential cost savings that can be achieved. • WO Sustainable Ops group is providing webinars as a means to assist units with the clean-up process.
Questions? Follow up comments/questions: Laurie Yeager – lyeager@fs.fed.us