How do I access historical energy usage data about my building?
If you recently acquired a building, you can only access data from your own period of ownership — utilities won't release the previous owner's usage data to you for privacy reasons.
Accessing historical energy data for a recently acquired building can be tricky. Utilities and third-party data services will only provide consumption data to the account holder who was responsible for the account during the period in question. If you've recently taken over a building, you'll only have access to data from the date you assumed the utility account forward.
To get data from before your ownership period, your best option is to contact the previous account holder — typically someone on the prior owner's facilities team. They'll need to request the data directly from the utility, since third-party services can't do it on their behalf either.
This is worth planning for early in the solar evaluation process, because 12 months of interval data is the foundation for accurate system sizing and savings estimates. If historical data isn't available, your solar provider may be able to work with modeled estimates based on your building's size, type, and location — but actual data always produces more reliable results.