Energy Toolbase & UtilityAPI Integration Instructions

by Adam Gerza on Sep 02, 2016

interval data

utility API

Table of Contents

1. Linking your UtilityAPI & Energy Toolbase account

2. Importing data from UtilityAPI into Energy Toolbase

3. Benefits of using UtilityAPI & Energy Toolbase

4. About us

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Linking UtilityAPI & Energy Toolbase account

Linking your UtilityAPI & Energy Toolbase account is quick and simple. It should only take a couple of minutes, and you only have to set this up once. Note: you need both a UtilityAPI account and Energy Toolbase account in order to link.

                    1. In UtilityAPI, go to ‘Settings’ in top-right > go to ‘Tokens’ and click ‘Add Token’ hyperlink > choose ‘API’ as Token type > copy                            the Token uid number.

                   2. In Energy Toolbase, go into ‘Company Settings’ in top-right drop down > click on the ‘3rd Party Services’ tab > under the                             UtilityAPI service click on the ‘enter API token’ hyperlink.

                    3. In Energy Toolbase, paste the UPI Token 'uid number'. That's it, your accounts have been linked. 

Importing from UtilityAPI to Energy Toolbase

Now that your UtilityAPI account is linked to your Energy Toolbase account, anytime a user goes to create an Energy Use Profile in Energy Toolbase, they will see the “Interval Data from UtilityAPI” option.

                    1. When creating an ‘Energy Use Profile’ > select the “Interval Data from UtilityAPI” option.

                     2. In Energy Toolbase, the user will see all the accounts and meters that currently exist in their UtilityAPI account. Select a                              meter that has data listed under the ‘Intervals’ column.

                      3. The ‘Data Import Complete’ message, means Energy Toolbase has received the interval data from UtilityAPI. Users can                              (optionally) click on any of the hyperlinks to see utility bill(s) that UtilityAPI pulled.

                    4. In Energy Toolbase, users will complete the ‘Create Energy Use Profile’ process > selecting a ‘Utility’, selecting a ‘Rate                                  Schedule’, and defining any rate schedule sub-attributes. Note: UtilityAPI displays the ‘Rate Schedule’ variable in their list,                              which users can reference.

                    5. All of the interval data captured by UtilityAPI gets populated into Energy Toolbase’s - ‘Energy Use Profile’ table, recreating                     a 365-day utility bill.

FAQ's:

  • If UtilityAPI has captured more than 365 days of interval data, Energy Toolbase takes the most recent 365 days, when creating the Energy Use Profile.
  • If there are missing intervals in the UtilityAPI interval data file, Energy Toolbase populates the missing intervals with the data from the nearest by: same day of the week and same time of day.

Benefits of using UtilityAPI & Energy Toolbase

There are numerous benefits of using UtilityAPI and Energy Toolbase in conjunction with one another. Our integration allows for speed, in: (1) acquiring interval data via UtilityAPI, (2) importing it into Energy Toolbase, (3) quickly and accurately recreating a utility bill, and then (4) leveraging high-resolution interval data to model, optimize and propose a project.

Interval meter data contains significantly more data points than monthly summary data, taken from utility bills. Higher data fidelity enables a more detailed level of analysis.

Advantages of working with UtilityAPI interval data vs. monthly summary data, in Energy Toolbase when analyzing and proposing solar PV projects:

  • Quickly & accurately re-create a utility bill: instantly reconstruct an annual utility bill and avoid the possibility of typos from manually transcribing usage data.
  • Find the best utility rate option: exactly quantify the dollar savings of a proposed project on all eligible rate options, including time-of-use (TOU) schedules.
  • Model NEM 2.0 scenarios: precisely quantify the amount of exported (kWh) energy, and determine the dollar savings and haircut as a result of a reduced ($/kWh) export rate.
  • Simulate kW demand reductions from PV: ethically estimate the reduction of demand charges in kW and dollars from a solar system, based on a meters’ unique interval demand profile.
  • System Optimization: determine the optimal system size for dollar savings, by simulating different system sizes, referencing: interval meter data, solar system design specifications, and any utility rate switching options.
  • Model energy storage projects with solar PV: model customer-side-of-the-meter energy storage strategies, like: peak demand shaving, time-of-use arbitrage or self-consumption.
  • Visualize your data: visually overlay consumption data with the cost of energy ($/kWh) and cost of power ($/kW) to identify potential load shift opportunities or other strategies.
  • Calculate realized dollar savings: precisely quantify the dollar savings of operational solar systems, leveraging interval consumption data in conjunction with measured solar production interval data.

About Us 

Energy Toolbase is an industry leading software platform for modeling and proposing the economics of solar and energy storage projects. Our SaaS product is used by several hundred leading distributed energy organizations nationwide to accurately, objectively and transparently analyze their projects.

Sign-up for a free trial at: www.energytoolbase.com

UtilityAPI automates the process of authorization, collection, and cleaning of utility bill and interval data for clean technology companies. With explicit authorization from a homeowner or business owner, UtilityAPI seamlessly shares data with the company that needs the data for analysis or evaluation. UtilityAPI is the recipient of a U.S. Department of Energy SunShot grant award.

Learn more at: https://utilityapi.com/

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