Service: BillGuard & Tarifa
Sector: Automotive components manufacturing
Note: The company name, Autopartes Puebla, has been changed in accordance with our non-disclosure agreement.

Autopartes Puebla operates a 24/7 automotive components plant in the state of Puebla, supplying Tier 1 and OEM clients in North America. Electricity is one of its top three operating costs, but historically it was treated as a fixed, non-negotiable expense. The finance team focused on paying bills on time rather than validating each CFE invoice in detail.

When the finance director noticed that energy costs were growing faster than production, she sought an independent review. That led to the implementation of Mexico Energy Partners' BillGuard & Tarifa service.

Initial situation

At the start of the engagement, the plant had:

• A monthly electricity spend of approximately MXN 3.5 million.

• Operations under a GDMTH tariff with pronounced demand peaks.

• No internal energy manager and limited technical review of CFE invoices.

• A belief that CFE bills were "just the cost of doing business" rather than a manageable expense.

Invoices were checked only for basic information such as customer name, service address, and total amount. Key elements like power factor penalties, contracted demand, and tariff suitability were not being reviewed.

Diagnostic insights

During the first two billing cycles, BillGuard & Tarifa identified several recurring issues:

• Persistent power factor penalties caused by a capacitor bank that was poorly maintained and sometimes left offline after shutdowns.

• Contracted demand that exceeded actual operational requirements, based on outdated assumptions from a previous expansion.

• A load profile that had changed due to new shift patterns, while tariff and demand conditions had not been renegotiated accordingly.

These findings showed that a meaningful portion of the energy bill was driven by correctable configuration and operational choices rather than pure consumption.

How BillGuard & Tarifa operated

The subscription established a precise monthly rhythm:

• Detailed invoice review, line by line, including energy, demand, power factor, penalties, and any additional charges.

• Comparison against a 12-month historical baseline to spot anomalies and emerging trends.

• A concise executive summary in Spanish for management, highlighting what changed, why it matters, and two or three recommended actions.

• A quarterly strategic review with finance and operations to revisit contracted demand, tariff structure, and risk areas.

All communication focused on pesos, risk, and decision points, making it easy for non-technical leaders to act.

Actions taken by the client

Guided by the BillGuard & Tarifa reports, Autopartes Puebla implemented a set of low-cost improvements:

• Restored, tested, and put under a maintenance schedule the power factor correction equipment, including simple checklists after each planned shutdown.

• Engaged CFE to reduce contracted demand in line with the actual peak load profile, backed by data prepared by Mexico Energy Partners.

• Adjusted some non-critical loads and cleaning activities to off-peak periods to smooth demand and reduce demand-related charges.

These measures were implemented using internal staff and existing infrastructure, without significant capital expenditure.

Results after one year

After twelve months of BillGuard & Tarifa:

• Power factor penalties were reduced by more than 80 percent.

• Total electricity cost dropped by roughly 8 percent, equivalent to about MXN 280,000 per month.

• The annual savings far exceeded the subscription fees, meaning the service effectively paid for itself within the first month.

The finance director reported a significant increase in confidence that every CFE invoice was being validated and that any unusual charge would be identified quickly.

Strategic value for manufacturers

For Autopartes Puebla, BillGuard & Tarifa did more than fix billing issues; it changed how the organization viewed electricity:

• Energy moved from untouchable overhead to managed cost.

• Budgeting became more robust, with realistic assumptions based on validated historical data.

• The plant could explain cost behavior to headquarters and clients with clarity and evidence.

For industrial manufacturers in Mexico, BillGuard & Tarifa demonstrates that systematic review and expert validation of CFE invoices can unlock substantial savings and reduce risk, without adding full-time headcount.