How a Debonairs Pizza Franchise in KZN Cut Electricity Costs by 11%

Like many franchise operations, this Debonairs outlet relied on their landlord and property management company to correctly pass through electricity costs. With no direct relationship to the municipality and limited visibility into how charges were calculated, the franchise had no way of verifying whether they were being billed on the correct tariff or at the right rates. They were paying what landed on their desk every month — unaware that tariff misallocations and billing calculation errors were quietly inflating their electricity costs by more than 10%.

OptiRate conducted a comprehensive audit of the franchise’s electricity account, tracing charges from the municipality through the property management company to the tenant. Using AI-powered extraction and line-by-line tariff verification, the team identified where the pass-through charges did not align with the applicable municipal tariff schedule. This included incorrect tariff category allocations, overcharges on demand-related levies, and calculation errors on time-of-use rates. Each finding was documented with supporting evidence and presented to the property management company for correction and recovery.

Within the first year, OptiRate identified R63,000 in recoverable savings. As ongoing monitoring continued into year two and three, cumulative savings grew to over R200,000 — representing a consistent 11% reduction against previous expenditure. The franchise recovered their initial investment in under 2.5 months, achieving an ROI of over 1,600%. More importantly, the ongoing reconciliation process ensures that future bills remain accurate and that no new errors go undetected.