Measurabl's Meter Data Integrity Monitoring feature automatically highlights all utility meter data issues, including missing and overlapping data on the portfolio, site and meter level. This will help you remove the guesswork involved in hunting for data completeness blockers, and, instead, enable you to focus your time on resolving those issues. Follow the steps below to resolve gaps, overlaps, and Utility Sync issues at your site!
How to Resolve Gaps & Overlaps:
- Click into your site.
- Click on the ‘Utilities’ tab.
- If there are Data Integrity Issues on your utility meters, we will alert you with the type of issue that’s preventing your site from having complete data.
- Scroll down to view your meters. In the ‘Meter Completeness’ column, you can view which meters have missing or overlapping data. We will alert you to inform you of the issue (Missing data, Overlapping data, or Utility Sync Issue) for each of your meters.
NOTE: The goal is to have all of your meters in the green, meaning you have complete meter data!
- Click into the meter to begin resolving the associated Data Integrity Issue.
- Once at the meter level, you can view all the Data Integrity Issues that are hindering your data from being complete. Make sure to follow the instructions listed under ‘To Fix These Issues’ for actionable guidance on how to resolve them.
- If you hover over a reading in the consistency graph, we will alert you if there is a gap or overlap for the associated date range. A gap will appear as a red dotted box and an overlap will appear as a yellow box for the time period it occurs. If your data is complete, the consistency graph will have navy boxes for the whole time period.
HOW TO FIX A GAP (ON A MANUAL METER):
To resolve a gap, you can either provide a true reading, or you can use our Estimations tool. Here's how to resolve a gap if you have the reading you'd like to enter:
- Click into the ‘+ Add meter reading’ button in the red dotted box in the meter table.
- Fill out the values for the missing data and press ‘Save’.
HOW TO FIX AN OVERLAP (ON A MANUAL METER):
- When you’re at the meter level, hover over the yellow box in the meter table to view the overlapping dates.
- Adjust the dates of the readings so the end date of the prior reading ends BEFORE the first reading of the next time period. If the reading is a duplicate or mistake, you are also able to delete the reading.
HOW TO FIX A UTILITY SYNC ISSUE:
- Click into your site.
- Click on the ‘Utilities’ tab.
- Click into the Utility Sync issue.
- Make the appropriate changes to your utility account. This guide will give you further information on how to resolve your Utility Sync issues!
- By resolving the overlaying Utility Sync issue, our Team can then start working on resolving the dependent gaps and overlaps, resulting in your data becoming more complete!
Pro Tip: For a more granular view of the missing or overlapping data for your Utility Sync meters, click into the meter to view the Data Integrity Issue(s) present. Click into the green highlighted issue for immediate access to resolve the associated issue.
Data Integrity Monitoring FAQs:
What is Data Integrity Monitoring? What does it mean when my meter is complete?
Data Integrity Monitoring detects gaps and overlaps down at the meter level and other issues (like Utility Sync credentials issues) that negatively impact the completeness of your data. We use this information to give your meters a 'completeness percentage' indicating what percentage of the meter’s lifespan is covered by readings.
What metrics do we calculate completeness for?
- Electric
- Water
- Fuel
- District
- Disposal
- Recycling
- Compost
- Donation
What is a ‘gap’ and how do I resolve it?
A gap is defined as missing data between sequential meter readings, leaving 2 or more days without data. A gap will show as a red dotted box in the reading consistency graph.
To fix a gap, you can either add an Estimation, or click on green ‘+ Add meter reading’ button and enter in data for the time period that is missing.
A End Gap notification will appear in active energy meters where the end date of the latest bill is more than three months out of date. This also applies if there is an end gap prior to a deactivation date, even if that deactivation date occurred years ago. Ex// Meter has a deactivation date of 10/14/2019, last bill ended 9/23/19, there’s an end gap from 9/23/19-10/14/19. These notifications will be seen in the building-level Utilities tab, meter inspector, and in the Data Completeness Issues View.
To fix an End Gap, you can add in data for manual meters, upload your bills for Offline meters, or reach out to our Support Team if you have Online meters.
Gaps in meters prevent data completeness, which leads to inaccuracies when disclosing to investors, governmental ordinances, or third party certification schemes. Also, any gaps in ENERGY STAR meters prevent submission to ENERGY STAR certifications and calculation of scores.
I have an intermittent meter, so I have a lot of gaps that I need to fix, what do I do?
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Intermittent meters are meters that have no usage and no meter readings for a period of time - this will cause a gap in your meter. This can be resolved by filling in the empty time with a 0-usage reading for every individual day that comprises the gap. However, a quicker solution is to fill out our 'Meters, Readings Bulk Upload Template'. You will want to input all of the gap periods in the spreadsheet, then send back to our support team to upload for you! You are also able to just leave the gaps as is since it is intermittent.
- Rather than manually filling the gaps, you can also use our Estimations tool.
What is an ‘overlap’ and how do I resolve it?
An overlap in a meter occurs when 2 or more meter readings span the same period. An overlap will show as a yellow box in the reading consistency graph.
To fix an overlap, change the date of the first highlighted reading, to the day prior to the reading start date that follows it.
Example: To fix the overlap in the below reading, you would adjust the date to (Jan 1, 2019 -Jan 31, 2019). The next reading date would be (Feb 1, 2019 -Feb 28, 2019) and the overlap would be fixed!
What are Utility Sync issues and how do I resolve them?
Utility Sync issues are also known as Utility Sync connection issues. These are issues that are causing a stop in automatic connection due to issues connecting to the utility provider or reading the bill, such as Username/Password Failures or E-bill Enrollment issues.
Click here to learn how to resolve your Utility Sync issues or reach out to Support!
What are ‘dependent’ issues?
Dependent issues appear next to Utility Sync issues, described above. They represent the number of gaps and overlaps that are dependent on the overlaying Utility Sync issue being resolved first. By resolving the overlaying Utility Sync issue, our Team can then start working on resolving these dependent gaps and overlaps.
Why can’t I fix gaps or overlaps on Utility Sync meters?
Utility Sync meters automatically pull data directly from the associated utility provider. If you see any gaps or overlaps with Utility Sync meters, please fix the overlaying Utility Sync issue. If there is no Utility Sync issue present and there are still gaps or overlaps, please reach out to us and our Team will help resolve these issues!
What does it mean when the gap or overlap has a ‘New’, ‘In Progress’, or 'Missing Bill’, status for my Utility Sync meters? What do I have to do on my end to resolve?
New: A gap/overlap was recently detected and is under review by our Support Team, no further action needed at the moment.
In Progress: Our Data Team is working to input the data into Measurabl. When the status updates next, the gap will be filled or you will get a 'missing bill' alert.
Missing Bill: This means the bill was not available in the utility portal for this time and we need you to provide the invoice to get data into Measurabl.
- If the Utility Sync account is a manual bill upload, please drag and drop a PDF utility bill for the gap period.
- If the Utility Sync account is linked with the utility provider, please send the PDF utility bill to Support for the gap period and our Team will fill the gap.
Note: The PDF utility bills must include the following:
- Account Number
- Start/End Dates of meter readings
- Usage
- Only ONE utility bill per PDF file
- Scan quality of at least 300 dpi
Feel free to submit a request or email us directly if you have any questions!