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What is an Utility Bill?

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In this episode of EduSketch this week, we address the question: What’s the utility bill? What else does an utility bill tell you and what could you do with it? Consumers and energy managers alike have a habit of scrutinizing their utility bills, however they might not be aware of the details they could receive from a bill using an application like Urjanet.

Let’s get started with the basics.

What is an utility bill?

Utility bills are comprehensive invoice that is that is issued and paid each month for utilities such as natural gas, electric water, waste and water. Utility bills for consumers as well as businesses are generally structured similar to those for businesses, but they have different accounts and expenses to keep track of than consumers do. Let’s take a look at all the details that sustainability and energy managers can obtain from a company’s energy bill.

On the typical utility bill you will find some basic information like the account number, the invoice number, address for service (different to the bill address, which addresses the facility or building that is being run) and the time period of service.

After that, for each meter you can view its use, unit rates, and the amounts due.

At the bottom of the invoice it is possible to see whether any adjustments were made and which the charges are and the total amount due.

Simple, right? However, if you want to evaluate consumption across multiple accounts and providers it becomes quite complex. There are several alternatives for facility managers who want to collect and manage information on utility bills manually to spreadsheets OCR software, electronic data interchange as well as integrated management of energy software.

However, the most straightforward and precise method to get utility bill information is through the data-as-a-service offered by Urjanet. Utilizing Urjanet’s cloud-based platform you can avoid the lengthy, error-prone process of manual entry and receive more information than the inaccurate formatted, insufficient formats that are available with OCR as well as EDI. Instead, you will receive precise, detailed information from each billthat is collected and then compiled into one easily-to-read, custom-formatted data file.

Let’s examine the information that Urjanet can extract from its connections with more than five hundred utilities all over the world.

Straight by the utility provider Urjanet allows users to access:

  • Name of the provider
  • Account number
  • Invoice number
  • Date of start and the date it ends
  • Additional service
  • Account number of the additional provider.
  • Type of service
  • Meter number
  • POD (Point of Delivery) number
  • Service address
  • Tariff
  • Consumption Read by typing
  • Consumption
  • Demand
  • The total amount of the new charges
  • Consumption costs
  • Demand charges
  • Tax-related charges
  • Other costs
  • Late fee costs
  • Adjustment costs

You can also request custom fields from the information that Urjanet offers, for example an address for each address or building. If you would like to view an original copy of the bill, this document will contain an URL for downloading the bill’s image.

You now know what a utility bill actually is and what you can expect from it. Find out how you can get access to aggregated and automated utility bill information for multiple sites by contacting Urjanet on this page.

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