Which dates are being compared?
Start by naming the mismatch precisely. A quote date, signature date, requested enrollment date, utility acceptance date, meter-read date, service start, invoice date, and payment due date are different events. A spreadsheet that stores all of them in one “start” field hides the question the hotel needs answered.
Make a timeline for each fuel and utility account. Write the date’s source alongside it: executed page, transaction response, utility confirmation, meter record, or invoice. Preserve the source document rather than copying an unexplained date from an email chain.
This guide addresses an observed mismatch after execution. The contract-start selection guide addresses the earlier planning decision. A sensible proposed date can still require operational confirmation, so the hotel’s record should retain both the original request and what actually occurred.
What do the signed terms say about delivery and duration?
Read the start provision together with its conditions. Look for references to successful enrollment, the utility’s processing, meter reads, an initial term, and the way the final service period is defined. A fixed calendar end and a term measured from actual commencement are not interchangeable descriptions.
The NextEra New York January 2025 compliance filing contains business forms illustrating meter-read and enrollment-related term language. These dated forms are examples, not the hotel’s agreement or current offers. Their value is showing why the exact start and ending sentences matter; they cannot resolve a private contract’s interpretation.
Use the agreement document hierarchy guide to locate any schedule or amendment that changes the main form. If a sales summary gives one date and the executed account exhibit gives another, flag that conflict for an authorized review rather than selecting whichever produces a preferred result.
What evidence should the enrollment reconciliation contain?
| Event | Evidence to retain | Question for the account owner |
|---|---|---|
| Requested start | Signed terms and submitted request | What did the hotel authorize? |
| Utility processing | Acceptance, rejection, or correction response | Was the intended account successfully enrolled? |
| Meter boundary | Read date, type, and quantity | How was the service interval measured? |
| Actual supply | Utility confirmation and bill service period | Which supplier served each interval? |
| Price application | Supplier explanation and invoice calculation | Which price applies to the interval? |
| Term ending | Contract wording and written interpretation | Does the mismatch affect the ending record? |
An unanswered field should remain visibly unresolved. For a portfolio, do not reuse one hotel’s accepted date across a collection of accounts. Separate meters may have different processing histories even when they were included in one procurement.
What can the utility’s published process establish?
The PECO electric generation supplier coordination tariff, effective February 20, 2024, describes supplier coordination and enrollment procedures in that utility’s setting. It is a source for checking the applicable process, not a national promise about how every hotel can switch.
Con Edison’s 2026 enrollment and drop schedule, issued November 14, 2025, publishes fuel-specific deadlines. An electricity account and a gas account should therefore be checked against the appropriate schedule rather than a shared assumption. Confirm the relevant account and transaction category before applying a listed date.
Check whether the schedule has been superseded before using it for a later year. A retained document can explain a past submission while being unsuitable for a new transaction. Date the source in the account record accordingly.
A published procedure cannot prove that a particular submission was accepted. Ask for the actual response associated with the hotel’s account. Also distinguish a transaction’s submission or processing deadline from the effective service boundary. The utility or supplier should explain how those records connect in this instance.
What should the hotel do before the first affected bill arrives?
- Collect the executed start and end provisions, account schedule, and latest enrollment correspondence.
- Request the transaction result and account-specific effective date from the responsible supplier contact.
- Confirm the utility record through the appropriate business-account channel.
- Identify the last outgoing-supplier period and the first incoming-supplier period expected on the bills.
- Ask how any gap, partial period, or delayed start affects price and contractual duration.
- Set an invoice review owner and retain the written resolution beside the original timeline.
Treat this as a coordination process rather than an instruction to send duplicate enrollment requests. Conflicting submissions can complicate the evidence. Ask the responsible party what correction is needed and who is authorized to make it.
If the supplier identifies an account-number or identifier error, verify the corrected information against the utility account. Preserve the rejected submission and its response; deleting it removes the explanation for the delay. Record any hotel authorization needed for a new or corrected transaction.
How should the first and last bills be compared?
Read service periods before comparing totals. Identify the fuel, meter, supplier, quantity, price unit, and whether a reading was estimated or actual. An invoice issued later can still describe an earlier service interval. The payment due date does not establish when supply began.
Look for corrected invoices and credits associated with the same period. If two documents appear to cover the same supply quantity, request a line-by-line reconciliation showing which invoice remains payable and which is replaced or credited. Avoid labeling the issue double billing until the records support that conclusion.
A utility delivery charge and a supplier commodity charge can coexist in a normal bill. Conversely, a familiar combined-bill format does not make every line correct. Keep the supply review separate from meter delivery charges while documenting how both connect to the same service interval.
Who decides the pricing and term consequences?
The supplier should explain the price applied during a gap or partial period and identify the contractual basis. The hotel should evaluate that explanation against the executed documents. A utility confirmation establishes operational information; it does not automatically settle every retail price dispute.
Ask the broker to disclose its compensation and clarify whether its service includes enrollment coordination and invoice reconciliation. Assign a named owner rather than relying on an undefined promise that someone will handle the switch. The broker’s explanation can be useful without replacing the supplier’s written account-specific confirmation.
If the mismatch produces a proposed amendment, compare every changed provision and obtain internal approval. Do not allow a corrected date to quietly become a changed price or extended term. The supplier payment-deadline guide helps keep invoice dispute and payment responsibilities visible while the service timeline is being resolved.
When can the hotel’s procurement calendar be updated?
Update the calendar after the account file shows the confirmed service boundary and a documented interpretation of the contract’s ending provision. Retain the originally signed date as part of the history. Record who approved the revised operational field and whether the legal terms changed.
A closed record should show which intervals each supplier served, which prices were applied, whether any invoice was corrected, and which questions remain open. Where the term interpretation is disputed, display that status explicitly instead of publishing an apparently settled renewal date.
The contracts hub provides the surrounding contract decisions. This review’s result is an auditable account timeline connecting execution, enrollment, measurement, and billing. It should be specific enough that a future accounting or procurement team can understand the mismatch without reconstructing a lost correspondence chain.