Energizing the Affordable Utility Market through Data

While it may sound dull, utility data is pretty exhilarating. The amount of data on a property’s bill is a road map to operational efficiency. It can uncover costly energy and water waste that can be reduced or eliminated, resulting in significant monetary savings. It’s like mining gold, says RealPage Senior Vice President of Spend and Energy Management Jason Lindwall, who recently led a webcast showing how Affordable property managers can realize efficiencies and savings through a utility management program. “Utility data is actually very exciting to have,” he said. “We can take look at a client’s data and have a conversation about what’s happening at the property. We can look at the data and identify leaks and other issues.” Analyzing usage and rates can lead to some significantly positive moments. Take, for example, one operator who saved $1 million over two years on their energy procurement contract by shopping for utilities. Another got a $150,000 tax refund and pocketed $50,000 after discovering the utility company charged a commercial rate when a residential rate was available. An Affordable client discovered a water leak and saved $40,000 after receiving alerts from its utility management solution. Staying on top of the constantly changing utility market With RealPage Utility Management, property management companies can see significant savings and get a grip on rising utility costs. In recent years, RealPage has assembled the largest energy and water use database in multifamily. The database is the engine that drives RealPage Utility Management, a platform designed to reduce water, electric and gas expenses through billing, procurement and benchmarking usage data. It’s making more sense for Affordable properties to work with a utility management provider to stay on top of a constantly changing energy market. Lindwall noted that significant changes are happening in the energy sector. Duke Energy&r...