Data Browser

The Data Browser is an interactive tool that allows customers to visualize and explore their energy use trends and costs, and make comparisons to useful benchmarks, such as weather and similar homes. One or more views for Energy Costs View, Energy Use View, and Neighbors View are available in the feature. If applicable, customers can also use menus to switch between multiple accounts or service points.

Requirements

Utility Requirements

Customer Requirements

Category Description
Billing Frequency Monthly, bi-monthly, and quarterly.
Data Delivery Frequency Monthly, bi-monthly, and quarterly.
Data Requirements

Billing Data: Customers must have a minimum of one historical bill to view data in the Year view.

Weather Data: Weather data is required for the weather line graph to display. If the Oracle Utilities Opower Premise Data Transfer specification is being used, then the country field in the Premise data entity is required.

AMI Data: The Digital Self Service - Energy Management AMI cloud service must be purchased for daily or subdaily energy use AMI data and insights to display. A minimum of one historical bill with at least one day of historical AMI data is required to view such data.

Rates Data: The Rates Engagement cloud service must be purchased and rates must be modeled in order for rates or cost insights to display in certain parts of the Energy Costs View.

Additional data requirements may apply for other "views" and features of Data Browser. See User Experience below for more details about each view.

Data History

A minimum of one historical bill is required for data to display in the Year view.

For AMI customers, a minimum of one historical bill which includes at least one day of historical AMI data is required for the Bill view and Day view.

Data Coverage Not applicable. By default, all graphs and views of the Data Browser display any data that is available, even if some reads are missing.
Supported Fuels Electricity, gas, and dual fuel. Customers with two fuels can switch between electricity and natural gas views. A combined view, which combines electricity and natural gas use, can also be enabled.

Limitations

  • Taxes and Fees Limitation: The amounts shown for energy use typically do not include taxes or fees, so they will not match the customer's bill. However, with additional setup and configuration, the costs can be made to match a customer's bill.
  • Responsive Display: Daily energy use can be displayed in 15 or 30-minute intervals for all customers with sub-hourly read data. When viewed on smaller screens such as for mobile devices, the responsive design displays hourly intervals to account for reduced screen space.

User Experience

The Data Browser is an interactive visualization tool that allows customers to analyze their energy use trends by fuel type, time period, and a series of other views. Customers can hover over or select a data point in the Data Browser to Energy Tooltips containing more information about it. The major views available are:

  • Energy Costs View: The cost of energy usage over time, alongside factors such as a weather and solar power (if applicable).
  • Energy Use View: The amount of energy usage over time, alongside factors such as a weather and solar power (if applicable).
  • Neighbors View: The amount of energy use compared between the customer and their neighbors.

The image below is an example of the Energy Use view.

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For more information on how the feature behaves and displays data, see General Display Rules below. Some insights may not be available depending on data availability and the customer's fuel type.

General Display Rules

The Data Browser follows some general rules regarding when and how to display data. These rules vary depending on the view.

Year View

Rules for the Year view include:

  • For all major views (Energy Costs, Energy Use, and so on), the Year view will always display any available data, even if some data is missing. For example, if 12 out of 13 months are missing data, the Data Browser will still show data for the one month that is available.
  • Energy use and cost data for a bill must be sent to Oracle Utilities Opower for the same billing period. For example, if a customer has quarterly bills, the utility cannot send monthly energy use data, and then later send the total cost of the customer's bill at the end of the quarter. Both the total usage and cost of the quarter must be sent together in order for it to display it in the Year view of the Data Browser.
  • Data points are always shown for a full year plus one additional data point. This means that there are 13 data points for monthly billing, 7 data points for bi-monthly billing, and 5 data points for quarterly billing.
Bill View

Daily AMI data is required to display the Bill view. In general, the Bill view will display any available data, even if some data is missing. For example, if only four days of data are available, the Data Browser will still show data for those four days.

Day View

Subdaily AMI data is required to display the Day view. Data reads are shown by hour or by whatever time interval matches the customer's AMI meter. The supported intervals are 60-minute, 30-minute, and 15-minute.

For the Energy Costs and Energy Use graphs, the Day view will always display any available data, even if some data is missing. For example, if only five hours of data is available, data for those five hours will be shown. Since 24 hours in a day can be assumed, missing data is shown as gaps in the graph.

High and low temperatures are not displayed in the tooltips for the Day view. However, average hourly temperature data will be displayed if it is available.

X-Y Axis

The Data Browser displays data in the form of lines, bars, and data points along an X-Y axis. Customers can hover over a given data point for more information and see a Energy Tooltips containing standard details such as a date range, energy use amount, and other information depending on the view selected.

X-Axis

The labels on the X-axis of the graph represent an interval of time (months, days, or hours).

View Display Rules
Year view

The abbreviated month and final day for each bill is displayed.

For example, if a customer is billed monthly on the 20th of every month, the label for September is Sep 20. This ensures that if more than one bill ends in a given month, each bill can be distinguished by the day information.

Labels appear across the X-axis for every bill. Labels are hidden in a manner to ensure that labels do not overlap for reduced screen sizes. For example, labels can be displayed for every other bill when a browser window is reduced.

Bill view

The abbreviated day of the week and numeric day for each daily read is displayed.

Labels appear across the X-axis for every other day. Labels are hidden in a manner to ensure that labels do not overlap for reduced screen sizes. For example, labels can be displayed for every third bill when viewing area is reduced due to viewing the graph on a mobile device.

Day view

Time of day intervals are displayed, such as 12am, 6am, 12pm, and so on.

Labels appear across the X-axis for every six hours. Labels are hidden in a manner to ensure that labels do not overlap for reduced screen sizes. For example, labels can be displayed for every twelfth hour when viewing area is reduced due to viewing the graph on a mobile device.

Y-Axis

The labels on the Y-axis of the graph represent an applicable unit of consumption, cost, or demand. The axis begins at 0 and displays increments up until an applicable maximum value that ensures all data can be shown.

Estimated Bills and Usage Reads

Utilities are sometimes unable to obtain billing reads or AMI usage reads for their customers, in which case such bills or reads may be estimated.

  • Estimated Bills: An estimated bill is an approximate monetary amount that is calculated based on the energy that a customer has consumed in the past rather than the present billing period. Estimated billing reads are marked in the data file sent by the utility to Oracle Utilities Opower. Estimated bills are corrected the next time the customer's meter is read. Any extra costs they were charged will be adjusted in the following bill, ensuring that customers never pay for more energy than they actually used.
  • Estimated AMI Reads: An estimated AMI read (that is, granular usage reads such as daily or subdaily reads) is an approximate usage amount that is calculated based on the energy that a customer that has consumed in the past rather than in the present billing period. Like estimated bills, estimated AMI reads are marked in the data file sent by the utility to Oracle Utilities Opower.

In the Data Browser, estimated bills or AMI reads are indicated by a tooltip message that displays when the customer hovers over an applicable data point. This message will appear if any bill or usage read shown in the Data Browser was estimated. For example, a single bill period could be estimated or a single day could contain three hourly reads which are estimated.

Note:

Estimated bills and AMI reads are flagged separately in the data files sent by the utility to Oracle Utilities Opower. If a utility has not marked that a billing read was estimated, then no indication of an estimated bill will be displayed for any of the bill periods shown in the Year view of the Data Browser—even if one of the billing periods contains one or more daily estimated AMI reads.
Energy Tooltips

A tooltip is displayed when a customer interacts with a data point in the Data Browser. At minimum, the tooltip includes the time period covered and the amount of energy used by the customer. Other elements of a tooltip vary depending on which view of the Data Browser is selected and what data is available.

Time Period: The time period for the selected data point. The information shown varies slightly depending on the interval of time being viewed.

  • Year View: The tooltip shows the month and date range of a bill period. Example: May 3, 2020 - June 1, 2020
  • Bill View: The tooltip shows details about a day in a bill period. Example: Thurs, May 8, 2020
  • Day View: The tooltip shows an hourly or sub-hourly interval in a bill period. Example: 9:00 - 10:00am

Energy Cost: The cost of energy for the selected fuel type and time period. Energy costs are shown on tooltips for the Energy Costs graph. Hyphens are displayed for any data that is missing. The cost amounts typically do not include taxes and fees, and so do not match a customer's bill. However, with additional setup and configuration, the costs can be made to match a customer's bill.

Energy Use: The energy used for the selected fuel type (kWh, therms, and so on) and time period. Hyphens are displayed for any data that is missing.

Energy Insight: In the Neighbors View view, the energy tooltip provides insight into the customer's energy use for the applicable time period as compared to their neighbors. For example, the tooltip may show that a customer used more, less, or about the same as their neighbors.

Weather: The average temperature for the selected time period. Weather data is available in the Energy Costs View and Energy Use View views. High and low temperatures are also provided when using the Year view or Bill view.

Click Bar to View Each Day or Hour: For customers with AMI data, a message is displayed in tooltips in the year view and bill view, directing customers to more granular data. This message allows customers to quickly view data for the days in a bill period or the hours in a day.

Estimated Bills: Estimated bills are listed as estimates in a tooltip. When unusual circumstances prevent a utility from obtaining an actual billing read for a customer, it is sometimes necessary to calculate an estimate. See Estimated Bills and Usage Reads above for details.

Virtual Bills

A virtual bill shows a customer's daily energy use and energy costs up to the present day in the Data Browser, even though the bill period is not finished yet. This is accomplished by determining the maximum number of days to display along the horizontal axis in the Bill view. This feature requires AMI data.

A virtual bill is useful because it assumes an end date for an in-progress bill, and it therefore allows daily usage data to be displayed in the Data Browser before the bill period is finished. Because of virtual bills, customers can go to the Bill view and navigate past their most recent bill period to see their daily usage data up to the present day.

Solar Data

The Data Browser supports solar data by displaying a customer's net energy usage in a given interval of time on the horizontal axis. (This may also be referred to as net energy metering, or NEM.) For example, if a customer has solar power and generates more energy than they consume, the Data Browser will show the customer's energy use as a credit or as a negative value. This data can be configured to display in different ways for a utility. See the Energy Costs View and Energy Use View for details.

Weather Data

Any weather data displayed in the feature is based on the geolocation (latitude and longitude coordinates) of the customer. A weather service is used to select the closest weather station with weather data for the customer. This usually corresponds to the nearest airport station, usually within ~40 kilometers from the customer. Daily average temperatures are based on hourly temperatures.

Multiple Billing Accounts, Premises, Service Agreements, and Service Points

The experience with the Data Browser varies depending on how many billing accounts, premises, service agreements, and service points a customer has.

Note:

The description below is meant to cover the most common scenario for utilities who send data to Oracle Utilities Opower using the core data transfer specifications. There may be a different experience depending on several other factors, such as the use of the legacy billing data transfer specification, the specifics of your setup and configuration, and any data extract and transformation scenarios.

Multiple Billing Accounts

A customer may have one or more billing accounts, and each billing account may include one or more premises. In such cases, the utility typically has an account selector that allows customers to switch to a different billing account to view associated energy information.

Note:

When a customer selects a billing account, the Data Browser refreshes and displays data for it. Data can only be displayed for one selected billing account at a time.

Multiple Premises

A premise is a location that receives energy service from the utility. If a customer has a billing account with multiple premises, then in the year view of the Data Browser, a menu displays a list of premises. The premises are represented as addresses. In the example below, each premise has one service agreement.

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Premises will display in the bill and day views of the Data Browser as well, with service agreement or service point information grouped under them.

Multiple Service Agreements

A service agreement defines the type of service the premise receives, as well as the cost of that service. Even in the case of single-fuel utilities (for example, utilities that only provide electricity to customers), a customer could have multiple service agreements associated with a premise.

For example, a customer could have two or more electricity service points—one for a house and one for some other purpose like a shed or an electric vehicle—each of which could be under its own separate service agreement.

In such cases, in the year view of the Data Browser, a menu displays a list of service agreements grouped by premise. Customers can select a service agreement to see the usage associated with it. In the example below, the customer has a premise with multiple service agreements.

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Multiple Service Points

A service point is the physical channel through which gas or electricity flows into the home, unit, or building. If a customer has multiple service points within a premise, then in the bill or day view of the Data Browser, a menu displays a list of service points grouped by premise. Depending on your setup and configuration, either a simple number or service point ID is displayed. (The customer must navigate back to the year view in order to switch to a different premise.)

An example image An example image

If a premise has multiple service agreements, each of which has one or more service points, then in the bill or day view of the Data Browser, a menu displays a list of service points grouped by service agreement. However, the service agreement value does not actually appear in the menu. The service point numbers or IDs display in the order in which the service agreements would be listed if they were shown.

For example, let's say there is a customer with the following premise and service agreements:

  • Premise 1: 1234 Main Street
  • Electric Service Agreement 1: 9876543210
  • Electric Service Point 1: 11100097
  • Electric Service Point 2: 11100013
  • Electric Service Agreement 2: 3456789012
  • Electric Service Point 3: 11100099

In this case, the menu would display all the service point IDs as follows:

  • 1234 Main Street
  • 11100097
  • 11100013
  • 11100099

The first two numbers, 1110097 and 1110013, are grouped together even though their associated service agreement is not shown.

Missing Data

As discussed above, all available data is displayed in the Data Browser even if there is missing data.

For the Year View and Day View, any missing bills, data reads, or weather data are displayed as missing data points on the graph. In the case of bar graphs, gaps will be shown for each interval of missing data. In the case of line graphs (such as the Neighbors View), a dotted line is displayed for the missing data point if the missing data is between other data points. If it is at the end, a gap will be shown with no line. The tooltips for these data points use hyphens in place of any missing data.

Customer Feedback

A customer feedback module can be displayed at the bottom of the Data Browser to collect input and inform ongoing improvements. See Customer Feedback for more information.

Energy Costs View

The Energy Costs view of the Data Browser displays how much a customer was billed for energy use, based on historical bill amounts. Customers can view energy costs for each bill over a 13-month period. Daily and subdaily views are also available if there is enough data.

Requirements

Same as listed in Data Browser. Additional data and cloud service requirements may apply depending on the types of insights (such as rate plan insights or peak time rebates) that the utility chooses to display. See the feature descriptions and User Experience Variations for details.

Limitations

Same as listed in Data Browser.

User Experience

The Energy Costs view displays how much a customer was billed for energy use over time. This section describes the user experience for customers who have billing data and daily AMI data.

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Fuel Menu

The fuel menu allows customers to select which fuel to view data for. By default, electricity is shown. An additional gas menu only appears for dual fuel customers.

A Combined view can be displayed, which combines electric and gas costs into a single number using a price-weighted index. When the Combined view is enabled, the data point Tooltips also display combined totals.

Time Menu

Depending on what data is available, the Energy Costs view presents different kinds of trends and insights at varying levels of granularity over time:

  • Year view: Energy cost by each bill period in a year. Monthly, bi-monthly, and quarterly bills are supported.
  • Bill view: Energy cost by each day in a bill period. AMI data is required for this view.
  • Day view: Energy costs by each hour of a day (or another subdaily interval such as quarter of an hour). AMI data is required for this view.
Bar Graph

The bar graph uses a vertical axis (Y-axis) to show the cost, and a horizontal axis (X-axis) to show the time period. The bars use the "You" color, which is blue by default and commonly changed to the utility's brand color. See General Display Rules for details on how the graph behaves and how the data visualization can change depending on the selected view.

Weather Data

A line graph representing the average temperature during each time period is overlaid on the bar graph. This allows customers to see how their usage relates to local weather patterns. The weather data is based on data from the airport weather station closest to the location of the customer. See Weather Data for details on how weather data is retrieved.

Cost Insights Bar

For each fuel type available in the Energy Costs view, a bar is displayed beneath the graph to show additional cost insights. This bar is available for single fuel and dual fuel customers and displays only in the Year and Bill views.

Year View: The bar displays the average bill cost and total annual cost for the selected year. If the year is not yet complete, the average bill and total cost-to-date is shown. The bar can also include an insight about how the customer's energy use equates to miles driven, if applicable.

In the example below, the year is complete, and the customer is using the Combined view.

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Bill View: The bar displays the customer's average daily cost and total bill cost for the selected bill. If the bill period is not yet complete, then the daily average and cost to date is shown. The bar can also include an insight about how the customer's energy use equates to miles driven, if applicable.

In the example below, the bill period is complete, and the customer is using the Combined view.

Carbon Emissions / Miles Driven Insight: The cost insights bar can include an insight explaining how the customer's energy use equates to carbon emissions and miles driven. This information allows customers to understand their energy use in more practical, familiar terms. The insight is followed by a link to the US Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator.

Note:

The carbon emissions insight is disabled by default since it depends on data from the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is therefore only available to utilities in the US. It can be enabled for US utilities upon request.

Tooltips

Tooltips are displayed when customers interact with a data point on the graph. See Energy Tooltips for details on what the tooltips may include.

For AMI customers, a message is displayed at the bottom of tooltips for data points for each bill. This messaging acts as a tip for how a customer can quickly view hourly or sub-hourly data for a given bill.

Customers can also view data points for energy costs that have not yet been included on a bill. By default, up to 30 days of in-progress billing data can be displayed to a customer, which can be configured to align with the length of a customer's billing cycle. See Virtual Bills for details.

Legend

A legend below the graph defines the elements displayed in the graph. If applicable, the legend includes an indicator for Estimated Bills and Usage Reads.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer messages can be added to the Energy Costs view that are specific to the view. For example, if applicable, a disclaimer message can explain that the amounts shown do not include taxes and other fees. The disclaimer message can also include links to other resources where customers can find more information.

User Experience Variations
Multiple Accounts and Service Points

If a customer has multiple accounts and service points, a drop-down list is displayed above the graph allowing customers to choose one and view data related to it. See Multiple Billing Accounts, Premises, Service Agreements, and Service Points for details.

Solar Customers

If a customer has solar power and generates more energy than they consume, the Energy Costs view will show the customer's energy use as a credit. The example below shows short green bars for negative values. Additionally, a tooltip denotes the negative cost value. This default experience can be configured to display in different ways. Utilities must coordinate with their Delivery Team to determine which display to use.

Additional solar insights and messaging can be displayed if the utility has purchased the Oracle Utilities Opower Distributed Energy Resources cloud service. See Solar Insights for the Data Browser for more information.

One-Day Bill Period

In some cases, customers may see a one-day bill period. This can occur when a customer is on their first day of the bill period, and Oracle Utilities Opower has received interval usage data for that day but has not yet received billing data for the bill period's end date. When this happens, a single bar is displayed in the Bill view, centered on the graph, for the single day. The weather data line graph is disabled.

Energy Use View

The Energy Use view of the Data Browser displays how much energy a customer consumed over specific periods of time. Customers can view energy usage for each bill over a 13-month period. If the required data is available, the customer can also view daily and subdaily data.

On this page:

Requirements

Same as listed in Data Browser. Additional data and cloud service requirements may apply depending on the types of insights (such as solar insights) that the utility chooses to display. See the feature descriptions and User Experience Variations below for details.

Limitations

Same as listed in Data Browser.

User Experience

The Energy Use view displays how much energy a customer is using over time. This section describes the user experience for customers who have billing data and daily AMI data.

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Fuel Menu

Electricity is displayed by default. Dual fuel customers will see options that allow them to switch between electricity and gas use.

A Combined view can be displayed, which combines electricity and gas costs into a single number using a price-weighted index. When the Combined view is enabled, the data point Tooltips also display combined totals.

Time Menu

Depending on what data is available, the Energy Use view presents different kinds of trends and insights at varying levels of granularity over time:

  • Year view: Energy use by each bill period in a year. Monthly, bi-monthly, and quarterly bills are supported.
  • Bill view: Energy use by each day in a bill period. AMI data is required for this view.
  • Day view: Energy use by each hour of a day (or another interval such as quarter of an hour). AMI data is required for this view.
Bar Graph

The bar graph uses a vertical axis (Y-axis) to show the cost, and a horizontal axis (X-axis) shows the time period. The bars use the "You" color, which is blue by default and commonly changed to the utility's brand color. Lighter bars represent Estimated Bills and Usage Reads. See General Display Rules for details on how the graph behaves and how the data visualization can change depending on which view is selected.

Weather Data

A line graph representing the average temperature during each time period is overlaid on the bar graph. This allows customers to see how their usage relates to local weather patterns. The weather data is based on data from the airport weather station closest to the location of the customer. See Weather Data for details on how weather data is retrieved.

Tooltips

Tooltips are displayed when customers interact with a data point on the graph. See Energy Tooltips for details on what the tooltips may include.

For AMI customers, a message is displayed at the bottom of tooltips for data points for each bill. This messaging acts as a tip for how a customer can quickly view hourly or sub-hourly data for a given bill.

Customers can also view data points for energy use that has not yet been included on a bill. See Virtual Bills for details.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer messages can be added to the Energy Use view that are specific to the view. For example, a disclaimer message can explain estimated usage. The disclaimer messages can also include links to resources where customers can find more information.

User Experience Variations
Multiple Accounts and Service Points

If a customer has multiple accounts and service points, a drop-down list is displayed above the graph allowing customers to choose one and view data related to it. See Multiple Billing Accounts, Premises, Service Agreements, and Service Points for details.

Solar Data and Net Energy Display

If a customer has solar power and generates more energy than they consume, the Energy Use view will show the customer's energy use as being sent to the grid. The example below shows short green bars for negative values. Additionally, a tooltip denotes the negative use value.

This default experience can be configured to display in different ways. Utilities must coordinate with their Delivery Team to determine which display to use.

Solar Data, Net Usage, and Delivered + Sent Toggle

If a customer has solar power, the Energy Use view can display a toggle between Net and Delivered + Sent tabs when electricity is selected from the fuel menu. The toggle appears beneath the time menu. Customers can use the tabs of the toggle to gain insight into their electric energy usage and solar production separately, as well as their net usage. This information is available in all time resolutions (year, bill, and day views) if there is sufficient data.

Net Tab: The Net tab displays the customer's final amount of energy consumption or energy generation for a given interval of time. It is determined by subtracting the customer's solar power generation amount from their energy consumption amount. If the customer has a net usage amount, it is displayed as electricity use. If the customer has a net generation amount, it is displayed as an electricity credit.

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Sent + Delivered Tab: This tab displays the customer's energy consumption and production data in the same time interval on the horizontal axis of the graph. "Sent" refers to energy sent to the grid through solar technology. "Delivered" refers to energy delivered from the grid to the customer's premise.

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Requirements

  • The customer must be on a net metering rate. Customers on a net billing rate or a non-net metering or billing rate are not eligible.
  • Account, Billing, and Premise data feeds must be established with the utility.
  • Billing data is required to display energy information in the year view. Interval (AMI) data is required to display energy information in the bill and day views. (If the customer only has billing data, then only the year view will be available.) The data must contain an indication of how much energy was consumed and how much was exported or sent back to the grid.
  • Some additional configuration is required to enable the view. Contact your Delivery Team for more information.

Neighbors View

The Neighbors view of the Data Browser allows residential customers to compare their energy use against their neighbors over each billing period from last year. Three lines are displayed on the graph to compare the energy use of the customer, all neighbors, and efficient neighbors. If there are not enough neighbors for a customer or the customer is ineligible for a neighbor comparison, then an applicable message is displayed in place of the view.

Note:

he term Neighbors is used in this view by default, but it is often replaced with the term Similar Homes. The terminology is configurable for each utility.
Requirements

Same as listed in Data Browser.

Limitations

Same as listed in Data Browser.

User Experience

The Neighbors view allows customers to compare their energy use against similar homes over each billing period that falls in the last year. This section describes the user experience for customers who have billing data.

An example image

Fuel Menu

Electricity is displayed by default. If the customer is dual fuel, they will see options that allow them to switch between electricity and gas use.

A Combined view can be displayed, which combines electricity and gas costs into a single number using a price-weighted index. When the Combined view is enabled, the data point Tooltips also display combined totals.

Time Menu

Above the data graph are forward and backward buttons that customers can select to display contiguous blocks of time. In the year view, for example, clicking the forward or backward button displays contiguous 13-month blocks of time for customers on monthly billing.

Since the data granularity available for a customer does not always match that of their neighbors, the energy use trends are only shown on the year view. Customers do not have the option of switching to a more granular view of data (such as the bill or day view).

Line Graph

The line graph uses a vertical axis (Y-axis) to represent energy use, and a horizontal axis (X-axis) to represent the time period. Three lines are displayed on the graph:

  • You (the customer): Uses the "You" color, which is blue by default and commonly changed to the utility's brand color.
  • All Neighbors: Uses a gray or neutral color.
  • Efficient Neighbors: Commonly uses a green color because green is associated with energy efficiency.

See General Display Rules for details on how the graph behaves and how the data visualization can change depending on which view is selected.

Neighbor Details

The Neighbors view includes a section in the legend of the graph that, when clicked, displays a What homes are compared? dialog, which shows the characteristics of the homes that the customer is being compared to. The description can be dynamic or static.

The static neighbor description is nearly identical to the dynamic neighbor description, except that it is much shorter and does not dynamically display neighbors' characteristics based on available data. The dynamic description includes a list of comparison characteristics and other information about the comparison, followed by a link to the Home Energy Analysis survey.

  • Summary Message: A summary message provides the number of neighbors or similar homes that are included in the comparison.
  • Comparison Characteristics: A list of characteristics that a customer shares with their neighbors is displayed with a green check mark. If a characteristic is unknown for a customer, it is not included in the comparison and hidden from view.
  • Neighbors or Similar Homes Definition: A brief line defining neighbors or similar homes as the 20% that use the least amount of energy.
  • Link to Survey: Clicking this button takes the customer to Home Energy Analysis survey so that they can provide the latest details about their home and make the neighbor comparison more accurate.

    Note:

    The neighbor comparison does not get automatically updated in real time based on a customer's updates. This link will still appear even if the user has already visited the Home Energy Analysis.
Tooltips

Tooltips are displayed when customers interact with a data point on the graph. In addition to showing the time period and the customer's energy use, the tooltips in the Neighbors view also show an insight about how the customer compares to their neighbors or similar homes.

Comparison State Description
Customer is using less than efficient neighbors.

Logic: Customer uses at least 1% less than efficient neighbors.

Example Message: "You used n% less than your efficient neighbors."

Example Mobile Tooltip:

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Customer is using the same as efficient neighbors.

Logic: The difference between the customer and efficient neighbors is 0%.

Example Message: "You used about the same as your efficient neighbors."

Example Desktop Tooltip:

Customer is using less than average neighbors, but more than efficient neighbors.

Logic: Customer uses at least 1% or more than efficient neighbors.

Example Message: "You used n% more than your efficient neighbors."

Example Desktop Tooltip:

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Example Mobile Tooltip:

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Notes:

  • The Good label in the mobile tooltip means that the customer used more than efficient neighbors but less than average neighbors. The customer could be using significantly more than efficient neighbors (such as 90% more), and the mobile state will still display Good as long as the customer is using less than average neighbors.

  • The Good label in the mobile tooltip is meant to parallel the Good label that can appear in the Energy Use Benchmark module of customers' print Home Energy Reports. The goal is to motivate customers to keep doing better even though they are already doing better than their average neighbors.

Customer is using about the same as average neighbors.

Logic: The difference between the customer and average neighbors is 0%.

Example Message: "You used about the same as your average neighbors."

Example Desktop Tooltip:

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Customer is using more than average neighbors.

Logic: Customer uses at least 1% or more than average neighbors.

Example Message: "You used n% more than your average neighbors."

Example Mobile Tooltip:

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See Energy Tooltips for details on what the tooltips may include in other views of the Data Browser.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer messages can be added to the Neighbors view that are specific to the view. For example, the disclaimer in the Neighbor view might provide information about how neighbors are determined. The disclaimer messages can also include links to resources where customers can find more information.

User Experience Variations
Multiple Accounts and Service Points

If a customer has multiple accounts and service points, a drop-down list is displayed above the graph allowing customers to choose one and view data related to it. See Multiple Billing Accounts, Premises, Service Agreements, and Service Points for details.