How to view, interpret, filter and download the data from the Backpack Utilities Page
The Utility page is a powerhouse of Backpack data, it's here that all your utility data comes to life!
Sections in this article
Utility Account Automation & Management
Utility Page Details
The page includes:
- Overview of utility usage showing Month over Month and Year over Year data with percentage change for each
- note this populates based on the most recent full month of data. If the building is missing bills or aggregate data that month is not considered complete)
- For example: If for the last 6 months all utility data for only 2 months has been received the the comparison will show those two months regardless if those months are sequential. This could result in a comparison of May 2025 to February 2025. If you aren't sure how to read this graph reach out to our support team and we can walk through it with you!
- Graph visually depicting all utility data in the Backpack in two formats:
- Month: data is adjusted to display in the calendar month utilized regardless of billing service dates.
- Invoice Date: data displays the utility bill information by the date on the utility bill.
- Hover state depicting Year-over-Year (YoY) comparisons of expenses to illustrate the evolution of your energy consumption patterns.
- Weather data included in hover state for evaluation of YoY data
- Additional views showing information by utility source - energy (electric & gas), water, waste, etc.
- View data utilizing units of measurement specific to the utility (ie: Kilowatts, gallons, yards, etc.)
- When multiple sources of data are available for any given utility, the software includes the ability to view meters separate or together
- Download utility bills (where appropriate, not all utility connections include an actual bill, some data comes to Backpack via API)
- Download utility data into a CSV by source
- Share and manage utility account login information
Utility Chart Features
The Utility Page Graph depicts utility data by source in a bar chart, allowing users to visualize the utility usage. Here are some of the great features of the chart:
- Hover: Hover over data to see more detail about each bar on the chart
- Year: Select which years to display by clicking the box next to each year
- Separate Meters: toggle this switch on/off to show individual meters in the graph with a legend below
Unit: select the desired unit based on the utility type
💡 Backpack will adjust units for each source and bill to match your selection
- Energy (Electric & Gas): Kilowatt hours (kWh), Joule (J), kilo-British thermal unit (kBTU)
Water: Gallon (gal), Centum Cubic Feet (CCF), Gallons/100 (cGal), Gallons/1000 (kGal)
- Waste: Cubic Yards (yd3), Tons (ton)
Understanding Utility Data in the Chart
There are two ways to view utility data in Backpack:
- Monthly Normalized Data in a bar chart
- Bill/Invoice Data in a line chart
Monthly Normalized Data Graphic
Utility consumption in the chart is adjusted by the software to represent normalized data. Normalized data is data aligned with the appropriate month regardless of the service dates of the invoice. This is often utilized by engineers and sustainability consultants.
The Advantage of this method is:
- Easily see actual usage and cost associated with a calendar month, not spanning multiple months based on bill dates
To calculate normalized consumption, Backpack does some pretty hefty math. Here's a general idea of what is occurring in the software:
Example:
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A water bill is received with service dates of 11/15/22 - 12/16/23 and consumption of 130,000 gallons
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11/15/22 - 12/16/23 = 32 days (including the end date)
- 130,000 divided by 32 days = 4,063 gallons/day
- The service dates start in November so this is considered a November bill, November has 30 days in the month
- 4,063 gallons/day x 30 days = 121,890 gallons
- 121,890 gallons is the "normalized" consumption for the month of November
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Hover over the bar chart data with the mouse pointer to see more detail. The graph incorporates Year-over-Year (YoY) comparisons of expenses to illustrate the evolution of your energy consumption patterns. For example, are you curious about the potential impact of weather variations? Simply hover over the chart to reveal metrics highlighting cost and temperature percentage change YoY.
Invoice Data Graphic
The 2nd tab of the utility page shows the cost data from the invoices in a point graph. This allows you to view changes over time easily and with the same great hover state to show more of the bill data.
Utility Bills
In this section of the Utilities page users can:
- View individual bill data
- Export Data & Import Data
- Manage Meter Information
- Manage Utility Accounts & Credentials
View Bill Data
Viewing individual bill data is easy in Backpack. Invoices are arranged by date with the most recent bills at the top of the page.
- To view more detailed bill data such as service dates, click the bill date on the desired row to expand the line.
- Click "Manage Bill" to open a pop-up window that provides more details about the bill & the ability to download a PDF of the bill (where available).Not all accounts will include a PDF of the bill, contact support if you have questions about data collection methods for Backpack at support@backpacknetworks.com.
- All information displayed in this section is included in the data export
Export Data
Export utility data into a CSV to share or further analyze Backpack data. To export data:
- Click "Export Data" on the far right side of the bill data table, a pop-up will display showing the data available to export. Now there are a few items to confirm:
- Check the box next to each utility you would like to export data for (if you leave them all checked you will get every utility in one spreadsheet)
- Confirm the unit of measurement for each utility matches your desired outcome - the software will default to the unit of measurement that your typical bill utilizes.
- Finally - select the type of data you would like:
- Meters - this is data associated with the meter & service dates
- Bills - this is data associated with the bill date and does not include service dates.
- If you aren't sure, download them both and pick what you want!
- Click EXPORT - the Software will export one or two files depending on your selections above. Find the files in the typical location according to your operating system
Import Data
A self-serve option is also available using the CSV template & upload options in the software. This typically is utilized at onboarding but only on rare occasions. Reach out to the support team for help if you have data to upload.
Meter Management
During onboarding users work closely with their designated Onboarding Coordinator to setup meters, enter credentials and confirm data. Once meters are set-up users can manage the meters from the Utilities page.
This page is powerful so it has its own article! Learn more about the "Meter Management" button HERE.
Utility Account Automation & Management
The second tab in the Utility details section of the page is for management of the connection between Backpack and the utility provider. If you have an access to an online portal for your utility provider then you can connect your right to your Backpack! This allows the data to sync from your provider right to the software with no work for you to do.
During initial onboarding your Backpack contact is available to walk you through this process & even enter login information for you. Or - you are welcome to handle everything on your own right in the software.
Account Connection Management
You can set up a connection to any electric, gas & water provider. Backpack does not support a connection to waste providers but we do collect that information in your backpack! Learn more about that in this article: What type of Accounts Can I Track in the Utilities Page?
To set up a new utility account follow these steps:
- Click on the Utility Account Management Tab
- If this is your first time here you can select from two options:
- Link Utility Accounts (automated connection using login details)
- Manual bills (upload PDF's of bills) - if you select this option a window will pop-up prompting you to upload 12 months of utility bills. If you don't have 12 months that's fine, upload what you have and we will work with you to fill in the details!
- To set up an automated connection click "Link Utility Accounts"
- On the pop-up select your utility provider from the list or email us if your provider isn't listed
- Enter your username and password for that provider & click NEXT
- The system will now try to connect the account to Backpack. This may take a bit so feel free to close the processing window or click "Add Another Provider" to add another account
If there are any issues with the connection to your provider our team will reach out within 24 hours.
Update login information for an existing account
- Click on the pencil icon for the provider
- On the next screen enter the username and password - note you will need to enter both items even if one of them did not change, click NEXT
- The system will now try to connect the account to Backpack. This may take a bit so feel free to close the processing window or click "Add Another Provider" to add another account
Update a utility provider
If you have a new provider you will need to follow the same process above for adding an account. It is also a good idea to delete the old credentials when you have received final bills. If you are unsure of timing it is okay to leave an old provider connected, if there are ever any issues we will reach out!
Questions?
Contact our support team at support@backpacknetworks.com