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What a usage data record contains
Here is a concrete example. One usage data record might say:Meter #A12345 at 123 Main Street used 5,200 kWh of electricity from January 1 through January 31, 2024, at a cost of $780.00.Every usage data record includes these key fields:
| Field | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Meter | Which meter this consumption belongs to | Meter #A12345 |
| Bill | Which bill this data was extracted from | Bill #INV-2024-0131 |
| Service dates | The start and end of the billing period | Jan 1, 2024 – Jan 31, 2024 |
| Raw usage | The consumption value as printed on the bill | 5,200 kWh |
| Tenant usage | Your share of the consumption (may be adjusted for occupancy) | 2,080 kWh (at 40% occupancy) |
| Unit of measure | What the numbers are measured in | kWh, therms, gallons, etc. |
| Total cost | The cost associated with this usage | $780.00 |
Tenant usage vs raw usage
In most cases, tenant usage and raw usage are the same number. The distinction only matters when you occupy a shared building. When it matters: Imagine you lease 40% of a 10-story office building. The whole building’s electricity meter reads 10,000 kWh for the month. But you only want to report your share.| Concept | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Raw usage | The full consumption amount on the bill — the whole building | 10,000 kWh |
| Occupancy percentage | Your share of the building (set on the site) | 40% |
| Tenant usage | Your share: raw usage multiplied by occupancy | 4,000 kWh |
Excluding usage data from reports
Sometimes you need to remove specific usage data from your reports without deleting it entirely. Marking a usage data record as excluded removes it from:- All aggregate totals (your site’s monthly kWh total goes down)
- Analytics dashboards (charts no longer include it)
- Data exports (it will not appear in CSV or integration exports)
- A record is clearly wrong (a bill was misread and shows 50,000 kWh instead of 5,000 kWh) and you haven’t had time to fix it yet
- The data is from a meter you don’t want to count toward your portfolio totals
- The period overlaps with another record and you want to avoid double-counting
- You are cleaning up test data or onboarding artifacts
Estimated usage data
If Nectar could not extract exact numbers from a bill — maybe the PDF was blurry or the bill format was unusual — you can enter the usage data manually and mark it as estimated. Estimated records work just like regular records in analytics and exports, but the estimated flag lets anyone looking at the data know the values are approximations. This is also useful for filling in gaps. If you know a building used approximately 4,500 kWh in March but the bill hasn’t arrived yet, you can create an estimated record to keep your reports complete. When the real bill comes in, replace the estimate with the actual number. See Glossary — Estimated data for the definition.Commodity-specific fields
Different utility types have additional fields specific to their commodity. These are filled in automatically when Nectar processes a bill. For definitions of electricity demand, time-of-use tiers, net metering, gas types, water types, waste streams, fuel types, and more, see the Glossary — Commodities and Energy Types section.Emissions data
Each usage data record can have associated emissions information — CO₂e totals, emission factors, and emissions methodology notes. For definitions and context, see Glossary — Carbon and Emissions Reporting.How edits affect your reports
When you edit a usage data record, the changes show up across the platform immediately:| What you change | What happens |
|---|---|
| Raw or tenant usage | Consumption totals update in analytics. Your site’s monthly total goes up or down by the difference. Future exports use the new value. |
| Mark as excluded | The record disappears from all totals, charts, and exports. Your site’s consumption drops by the excluded amount. |
| Change meter assignment | The usage moves from one meter (and its site) to another. Both sites’ analytics update immediately. |
| Edit cost | Cost analytics and cost exports reflect the new amount. |
| Change service dates | Shifts which time period the data falls into. A record that was in January might move to February if you change the end date. |
| Update emissions | Carbon reports and ESG exports reflect the new values. |
FAQ
Why does my usage look wrong?
Why does my usage look wrong?
There are several common causes. The bill PDF may have been hard to read, leading to incorrect
extraction — compare the usage data against the original bill. The meter’s identifiers might be
wrong, causing data from a different meter to appear here. Or the occupancy adjustment might be
applied unexpectedly (or not applied when it should be). Start by opening the bill and comparing
the extracted data to the source document.
What does 'excluded' mean?
What does 'excluded' mean?
Excluded usage data is hidden from all calculations — analytics totals, charts, and exports —
but it still exists in the system. Think of it like putting a document in a “do not count”
folder. You can un-exclude it at any time to bring it back into your reports. This is different
from deleting, which removes the record permanently.
What's the difference between tenant usage and raw usage?
What's the difference between tenant usage and raw usage?
Raw usage is the full consumption amount on the bill — the total for the whole building or
meter. Tenant usage is your share of that total, adjusted by your occupancy percentage. If
you occupy 100% of the building (or no occupancy percentage is set), the two numbers are
identical. The difference only matters for shared or multi-tenant buildings.
How do I fix incorrect usage data?
How do I fix incorrect usage data?
Open the bill that contains the usage data and navigate to the Usage tab. You can edit the
consumption value, cost, service dates, and other fields directly. Your changes take effect
immediately in analytics. If the entire record is wrong, you can exclude it and create a new
manual entry with the correct values from Data Input > Manual Entry.
Can I add usage data that Nectar didn't extract?
Can I add usage data that Nectar didn't extract?
Yes. You can add usage data manually through the bill detail page (Usage tab > Add usage
data) or through the manual data entry flow in Data Input > Manual Entry. Manually entered
data works exactly like automatically extracted data in analytics, exports, and carbon
calculations.
Does editing usage data affect past exports?
Does editing usage data affect past exports?
No. Exports that have already been downloaded reflect the data as it was at the time of export.
If you edit usage data after exporting, the old export file will not change. To get an export
with the corrected data, run the export again.