What electricity bloat looks like
Most of an energy bill is fixed delivery cost — but the supply rate, the markup hidden inside it, and a missed renewal window are exactly where businesses quietly overpay.
- A supply contract that expired and rolled to a month-to-month “variable” or “holdover” rate well above market.
- An evergreen auto-renewal that re-locked you for another term before you ever saw a renewal notice.
- A broker markup of a fraction of a cent to several cents per kWh baked into your supply rate, never disclosed as a line item.
- Demand charges (kW) driven by a few peak spikes — billed for months on a ratchet you didn’t know existed.
- Paying the utility’s default “price to compare” in a deregulated market when a competitive supply rate would be lower.
- Capacity, transmission, and rider charges treated as fixed when some are tied to a peak-usage tag you can shift.
How Bloatweiler trims your electricity bill
Human-reviewed, evidence-first.
We read the actual bill
Send your latest full electricity invoice — both pages, supply and delivery. A human, not a bot, separates the supply rate you can shop from the regulated delivery charges you can’t, and reads your kWh, demand (kW), and contract dates.
We benchmark + find the gap
We compare your supply rate per kWh against current competitive market pricing for your utility and load, back out any broker markup, and flag holdover rates, evergreen renewals, and demand charges worth attacking.
You approve every move
Findings come back as Savings Opportunity Cards with the trade-offs. If you say go, we pursue a re-quote, a switch, or a renewal — no supplier is contacted and nothing on your account changes without your sign-off.
An example, not a promise
Real findings ship with evidence, a range, and a confidence level. Never guaranteed. The card below is an invented example.
Supply contract expired, rolled to a holdover rate
A small business in a deregulated state finished its fixed supply term and was moved to a month-to-month variable rate that sat well above the current market price to compare, while delivery charges stayed unchanged.
Evidence: Supply line on the invoice shows roughly 11.8¢/kWh on a holdover rate; current fixed offers for the same utility and usage band were quoting in the high-8¢ to mid-9¢/kWh range.
Est. range
$120–$400/mo
medium confidence
Next step (you approve): Confirm the contract end date, then collect competing supply quotes and a renewal option to compare — only after you approve which path to pursue.
Supply vs. delivery: which part of your electricity bill you can actually lower
An electricity bill has two halves. Delivery (the “wires” charges — distribution, transmission, riders) is set by your regulated utility and is largely fixed; you can’t shop it. Supply (the actual electrons, priced per kWh) is the part that, in a deregulated market, you can competitively procure. Lowering your business electricity cost almost always means going after the supply rate — and the markup hidden inside it — not pretending the delivery side will move.
That’s also why the “price to compare” on your utility bill matters. It’s the supply rate you’d pay on the utility’s default service, and it’s the honest benchmark for any competitive offer. A good business energy audit reads that number, your real kWh and demand (kW) usage, and your contract dates together — so you know whether a switch genuinely beats the default or just looks cheaper on a teaser rate that expires.
When a commercial energy broker helps — and when the markup hurts
Energy brokers can be genuinely useful: they have supplier relationships, they handle the paperwork, and for a multi-site operation they save real time on procurement. The catch is how most are paid — a markup added onto your per-kWh supply rate, collected by the supplier and passed to the broker, often without ever appearing as a separate line. You can be on a “competitive” contract and still be overpaying by a fraction of a cent to several cents per kWh you never agreed to.
Our job isn’t to bash brokers; it’s to make the number visible. We back the markup out of your supply rate so you can see what you’re actually paying for energy versus for the broker’s cut, then compare that against what the market quotes today. Sometimes the broker is earning their keep. Sometimes the renewal they let auto-roll cost you more than they ever saved. Either way you get the evidence — and nothing changes without your approval. No guaranteed savings.
Questions, sniffed out
What’s the difference between supply and delivery charges on my electricity bill?
Supply is the actual energy you use, priced per kWh — in a deregulated market you can shop this part competitively. Delivery is the regulated “wires” charge set by your local utility for moving the power to you, and it’s essentially fixed. Lowering your bill almost always means going after the supply rate, not the delivery side.
Is there a broker markup hidden in my energy rate?
Often, yes. Many brokers are paid through a markup added onto your per-kWh supply rate rather than an upfront fee, so it never shows as its own line item. We back that markup out of your rate during the Bloat Audit so you can see what you’re paying for energy versus for the broker — then you decide what to do.
Do you switch my electricity supplier automatically?
Never automatically. We find the gap and show you the options with evidence — a re-quote, a switch, or a renewal. If you choose to pursue one, you approve it first; no supplier is contacted and nothing on your account changes without your sign-off.
What is an evergreen renewal and why does it matter?
An evergreen clause auto-renews your supply contract — sometimes for another full term, sometimes onto a higher variable rate — if you don’t opt out inside a short window before expiration. Miss it and you can be locked in again before you ever shop. We track your contract dates so a renewal is a decision, not an accident.
Is the business energy audit really free?
Your first Bloat Audit is free and takes about two minutes to open. If we find a supply rate or markup worth acting on, we’ll lay out the options — including how we’re compensated — before anything happens. Some savings are real, some bills have nothing to cut, and we tell you which. No guaranteed savings.
More bills we trim
Read the guide
Let the dog look at your energy bill.
Open a free Bloat Audit in about two minutes. No credit card. We pre-selected Energy for you.
Bloatweiler may be paid by partners or vendors in some categories — always disclosed before any change. No guaranteed savings.