Indiana University Bloomington

Andrea Moore is the Utility Analytics Manager for Indiana University, working out of the Bloomington campus while supporting utility data for the entire state system. Her office is the central point for utility bill import and cost and use review for all 8 IU campuses, with chargeback processing active for campuses in Bloomington, Indianapolis, New Albany, and Gary. With only a handful of staff working deeply in EnergyCAP day to day, Moore’s team carries the bulk of the analysis, audit follow-up, and reporting for a utility portfolio that spans millions of gallons of water and extensive natural gas use annually.

The challenge

IU’s scale means utility billing errors can hide in plain sight, especially when they originate with a vendor rather than the university itself. The University needed a way to catch problems that would not show up through normal observation.

• Vendor meter errors going undetected: mis-programmed meters from the city and a natural gas supplier billed IU at 10x actual usage
• Slow-developing issues that needed sustained follow-up: one water meter error took five months of investigation, vendor contact, and testing before the root cause was confirmed
• Leaks that needed same-day response: an underground leak on a 6” domestic water main required fast detection to limit financial and water loss
• Disconnected utility data and campus communication: detailed production and consumption data lived in EnergyCAP, but needed to be shared with students and the broader campus community

The solution

The University relies on EnergyCAP audit flags as the first line of defense, then uses the underlying data to investigate, document, and resolve each issue with vendors.

• Utility bill auditing: audit flags for unusual use and cost surfaced all three billing errors, including two that originated with the vendor
• Historical usage data: reviewing prior billing periods in EnergyCAP gave Moore the evidence needed to push back on vendors and request meter testing
• Chargebacks: with submeters expanding across additional campuses, including a new chargeback rollout at the Richmond campus, EnergyCAP supports the billing structure as more locations come online
• Shareable dashboards: Moore built public dashboards showing chilled water and steam plant production, then paired them with QR codes on digital signage in dorms and academic buildings to put utility data directly in front of students

Results and measurable impact

Across three separate incidents, EnergyCAP audit flags gave Moore the evidence she needed to recover significant credits and resolve issues that could have otherwise continued unnoticed.

Cost recovery

Using EnergyCAP audit flags, the team caught three separate billing errors that returned more than $416,000 in overbilled charges and turned utility production data into public-facing digital signage across campus.

• A water meter installed at one of IU’s six central distribution supply points was mis-programmed, billing the university 10x its actual usage for water and wastewater combined. The issue triggered flags for five consecutive months before the city’s meter technician identified the cause. The corrected billing resulted in a credit of $307,563.
• A separate domestic water line leak was flagged, investigated, and resolved within 24 hours. After bill audits flagged the invoice, Moore discovered the meter was running at a constant 92 gallons per minute, alerted IU’s distribution team, and the leak was repaired the next day. The utility credited IU $69,239 in wastewater charges.
• A natural gas meter serving the student center on IU’s Gary campus was billing at 10x actual use due to a supplier programming error. After a multi-month process, the supplier credited IU $40,093 in overbilled natural gas charges, with an additional adjustment still pending from the supply line provider.

Campus engagement

Beyond cost recovery, Moore uses EnergyCAP data to build public dashboards tied to QR codes on digital signage across campus, including in residence halls, the student union, and the academic buildings of IU’s school of informatics, computing, and engineering.

Looking ahead

Moore is continuing to expand chargeback processes as more campuses add submeters, including a recent installation at the Richmond campus. She is also working with the EnergyCAP team on a forthcoming cost avoidance analysis to put a value on energy efficiency improvement efforts made by IU’s Energy Management and Utilities team.