Manage your energy

When you benchmark your buildings using Portfolio Manager it will help you:

• Assess the current energy performance of individual buildings or entire portfolios.
• Rate the energy consumption of your building as compared to similar buildings.
• Verify and track progress of improvement projects over time.
• Apply for and earn ENERGY STAR recognition.
• Comply with the California AB 802 Building Energy Use Disclosure and Public Benchmarking law for disclosable buildings. To support your efforts, SMUD will supply aggregated data upon request for properties that meet either of the following guidelines:  
  •  No active residential utility accounts, and more than 50,000 sq. ft. gross floor area
  • 17 or more active residential utility accounts of each energy type servicing the building, and more than 50,000 sq. ft. of gross floor area

SMUD will provide up to 24 months of your building's electrical energy usage data, in either individual meter or aggregated data form. This includes:

• One-time uploads of 12 months of aggregated or individual meter usage data can be provided to Portfolio Manager, so an energy use intensity (EUI) or an ENERGY STAR score may be calculated for your site.
• Alternatively, for most customers, continuous data sharing of individual meter usage. This  can be provided to Portfolio Manager to track and monitor your building's usage on an ongoing basis.
  

Customers using Campus billing may only receive data in aggregated form. Campus accounts with access to the SMUD Energy Profile Online may email us for help uploading their meter data uploaded into Portfolio Manager via custom template. 

Under the California AB 802 Building Energy Use Disclosure and Public Benchmarking law, SMUD will provide aggregated data upon request for covered buildings that meet either or both of the following guidelines:

• Any building with no residential utility accounts
• Any building with five or more active utility accounts, residential or nonresidential

Is there a user's guide to help me set up a building in Portfolio Manager?

Yes. Download the SMUD guide, "How to Benchmark".

Is there a user's guide to help me set up automated data uploads from SMUD?

Yes. Download the SMUD guide, "How to Enroll in Web Services".

How do I obtain usage data from SMUD?

You can request SMUD to upload your electric usage data into Portfolio Manager and avoid manually entering the information.

Make sure you have added all meters to the Property Profile.

• For a one-time data upload request, you will need your meter number. Aggregated data may only be supplied for a one-time upload.
• For continuous data sharing, you will need your account number and location number.

These numbers can be found on your bill. View a sample bill. 

There is a two-step process to obtain your usage data from SMUD:

Step 1 - Connect with SMUD

1. Connect with SMUD by selecting "Contacts" at the top right corner of the Portfolio Manager home page.
2. Select the "Add Contact" button and search for "Sacramento Municipal Utility District".
3. Select the "Connect" button.
4. Answer the "Are you Benchmarking a building for a State of CA Govt Agency?" question, read and agree to the Terms of Use, and select the "Send a Connection Request" button.
5. You should see a green bar confirming that your connection request was sent to SMUD. You will receive a notification when SMUD accepts your request. This process takes 24 to 48 hours. 

Step 2 - Share properties

1. Select the "Sharing" tab and then select the "Share a Property" button.
2. Select the number of properties and the properties you would like to share. Select "Sacramento Municipal Utility District" from your contacts and select the "Continue" button.
3. Next to each property, select the "Exchange Data" radio button.
4. In the popup window, select the "Full Access" radio button next to all of the meters you would like to connect with SMUD web services.
5. Make your selection.
   a. If your request is for a one-time aggregated data upload, answer "Y" and enter the meter number from your property in both the Account Number and Location Number fields. 
   b. If you would like to establish a continuous individual meter data feed, select "N" and provide your account number and location number.
   c. If your site has two addresses, you will have two location numbers. Repeat this step using the other location number.
6. Select the "Apply Selections & Authorize Connections" button to save and close the popup window.
7. Select the "Share Property(ies)" button. You should see a green bar at the top of the Sharing tab confirming the request was submitted. You will receive a notification when SMUD has accepted your property share request. This process takes 24 to 48 hours.

My account is set up on campus billing and I have added the account number for the Campus and all of the meter numbers. Why am I not receiving the information for the individual meters?

For customers on campus billing, SMUD can only upload the aggregated energy usage data that is available on your bill. The individual meter usage is not available. Email us for assistance with your campus account.

I own and manage a multi-tenant building. How do I benchmark my building when the meters aren’t in my name?

Refer to instructions above to access data from SMUD. You will need to enter the meter number in both the Account Number and Location Number fields. SMUD will validate the meter number and locate all other meters at the same address in order to upload aggregated data for the building while maintaining your individual tenant's security.

Note: If the building has two separate addresses (such as, a building located on a corner, and some meters are associated with a second address), then you must provide a meter number for each address.

I was previously receiving energy data through SMUD's automated benchmarking system, but it no longer works. What happened?

This is most likely a result of some change in the customer account (company name, property management, or SMUD account number). The first step would be to double-check that the account number and location number are correct.

If not, you will need to enter this updated information into Portfolio Manager by either using the current Portfolio Manager property profile or creating a new one.

How do I share my Portfolio Manager data with others?

Portfolio Manager allows you to share your data with your partners, contractors, or any others that are helping improve the performance of your portfolio. Learn how to share data with other users in Portfolio Manager.

How do I transfer properties to another user?

In the event of a change in property management, Portfolio Manager allows you to transfer the ownership of a property to another Portfolio Manager user. You must first make sure you stop sharing the transferring property with any existing users. 

Is there a place where I can find information on benchmarking that’s specific to my business type?

Yes, visit the EPA Portfolio Manager website to find business-specific information.

Is there a list of consultants I can hire to profile my building for me?

The EPA maintains a list of service providers on their Portfolio Manager website. See the current list of available service providers.

Is there a public list of other building scores, so that I can see how well I’m doing relative to my competitors?

The Energy Commission will publish building-level data received for disclosable buildings with no active residential utility accounts beginning in 2019 and thereafter. Building-level data for buildings with active residential utility accounts will be published beginning in 2020 and thereafter. Additionally, you can share your building data with others who have an account in Portfolio Manager.

Is there a public list of buildings that have earned the ENERGY STAR?

Yes, view ENERGY STAR certified buildings and plants locator. If your site earns the ENERGY STAR, you'll have the option to post your building profile to this list.