Uplevel your carbon reporting with DataHub, our newest utility data access method

on April 18, 2024

As climate disclosure requirements continue to become the new normal, automated energy data is more essential than ever for accurate ESG reporting. Whether you’re assessing your company’s carbon footprint, scoping climate-conscious initiatives, or trying to baseline your energy use, utility and energy data serve as the bedrock of informed decision-making. 

Most bill delivery solutions still offer insufficient automation tools, requiring businesses to do manual work to ensure their data is accurate. But with our Plug product, we seamlessly connect businesses to global utility data at scale, providing insights into statement- and meter-level energy usage. 

And now, we’re releasing a new feature that makes our Plug product even more powerful and easier to use for your business. DataHub is our newest data access method for Plug, enabling you to access utility data in table format through a Snowflake direct share and SFTP file delivery. In this initial release, DataHub will provide you with the utility data and intelligence to access aggregated meter data on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis — necessary for Scope 2 reports. 

How DataHub works:

It can be difficult to determine resource usage per meter, especially if you have separate providers on both the supply and delivery sides of your utility service. We’ve done the hard work of analyzing and deduping this information, so every meter with a statement provided has usage data with standardized units of measure where possible. (For example, no more having to compare therms to CCFs.)

Now with DataHub, you can view your company’s utility usage data calendarized at the monthly, quarterly, and annual time periods. You can easily aggregate this information by site or meter. With our utility data expertise, you can ensure your usage data is accurate, automated, and organized and save money on potential headcount for the data sourcing behind emissions reporting. 

What’s next:

In the future, we’ll offer more granular information — such as line item utility usages, charges, accounts, and payments — through DataHub’s Snowflake Data Share and SFTP file delivery for customers looking to do deeper energy analysis beyond ESG reporting.

Getting started with Datahub:

If you’re already a Plug customer, there are a few easy steps to take to enable DataHub for your organization. 

  • First, ensure that your organization is enabled for proration and inference features — these allow us to ensure that you can see your meter-level total utility consumption even if your provider does not directly publish this information in your utility statement. 
  • From there, onboard all of your utility credentials to Plug. If you have statement files or PDFs, upload these through Plug’s Files Module. 
  • Once you’ve entered the necessary utility information, you can configure your preferred data delivery method — Snowflake Data Share or SFTP file delivery — in the Dashboard. 

For new customers that are interested in getting easy calendarized and standardized data for reporting purposes, contact us to learn more about how Plug and DataHub can help support your carbon accounting needs.