In March, BH Management implemented CSASecure at Broadway Square, a 2,469-unit community in Houston owned by Post Investments. President Jason Post was a bit skeptical at first: "I wasn't sure what to expect. We have a good management team with a very effective vacant cost recovery process on site, so I wasn't sure if CSASecure could be justified on a cost/benefit basis."

 

When the program started, Broadway Square had paid for more than 2,544 days of electricity owed by resident violators. Five months later, using the CSASecure proprietary system, the number of electricity days paid by the community has dropped by 94.5% to 139 days. That's a huge savings by any measure!

 

It didn't take long for Jason to implement CSASecure in all of his communities. "The ROI is very convincing, almost a no-brainer," he said. "We are very happy with our decision to implement CSASecure."

 

 

  
"We are experts in helping clients reduce utility cost and consumption through strategic procurement or other integrated services such as utility bill processing and payment, audit and software solutions," said Matthew Berke, founder and president of LPB Energy. 

 "Our clients are leaving no stone unturned in these tough economic times. They are looking for every opportunity to increase NOI," said Michael Anderson, managing partner for BluTrend. 

Jim Kjolhede, a multifamily veteran and a partner at BluTrend added, "Our approach has always been to be part of the solution. With our core expertise in the multifamily industry and LPB's expertise in integrated energy management, we are confident that this partnership will prove very fruitful to multifamily clients."

 

LPB employs over 130 associates and has a base of over 1000 clients. Find out what clients are saying about LPB Energy by visiting www.lpbenergy.com/default.asp?contentID=144

Even if you are using a Vacant Cost Recovery (VCR) program, you are leaving as much as 30% of recoverable amounts on the table-whether you do VCR in-house or through the best third party company.

 

The utility losses come on the move-out side. If a resident puts the utility service back in the community's name one to 30 days prior to his move-out date, you as the owner will have to pick up the tab for those days.

 

How much does that cost? A lot more than many owners estimate. For example, during the hot months of May-August in Dallas and Houston, the average cost of electricity per unit (based on average CSA variable costs) could easily be $7 per day. The losses can add up quickly, to as much as $210 per violator.
 

How often does this happen? More often than you think. Analyzing more than 71,200 units in Texas, we discovered that 13.2% of all move-outs in 2008 resulted in violations where more than 10 days of electricity were charged back to the community. 

 

The simple fact is that all VCR processes are based on paper bills, which are generated on a scheduled billing cycle every 30 days by the utility provider. That time lag makes it difficult to recover utility costs from residents who have already moved out.

 

What's the solution? Add CSASecure to your current VCR Program and recover 100% of all recoverable opportunities. Unlike paper-based processes, CSASecure uses real-time data to identify violations the day they occur.  See our white paper for the facts at