Utility Usage Reporting

Port Ordinance 2844: Mandatory Reporting of Utility Usage on Tidelands (Ordinance 2844) mandates that all utility account holders on Port tidelands track and disclose their energy and water consumption data utilizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR^® Portfolio Manager^® (Portfolio Manager) online tool. While there is additional State legislation regarding energy benchmarking in the rulemaking phase, as of August 2016, only Ordinance 2844 mandates the reporting of energy and water consumption data using Portfolio Manager.

There is no cost associated with using Portfolio Manager, SDG&E’s web services, or reporting data to the Data Aggregator. However, while there is no fee to apply for ENERGY STAR certification, having your building data verified by a Licensed Professional might cause your organization to incur some costs. Pursuing ENERGY STAR certification is optional and not required by the Ordinance 2844.

No. The role of the third party Data Aggregator is to collect utility account holder data through Portfolio Manager, coordinate with tenants on the collection of data where necessary and report aggregated data to the Port in a report format. The Data Aggregator is not to disclose individual utility account holder data to the Port.

A minimum of “Read Only” permissions need to be provided to the Port Benchmarking account for reporting purposes. It is recommended that “Full Access” permissions be provided for faster assistance in resolving compliance issues.

The first reporting year for Ordinance 2844 covers utility usage (energy and water) data for calendar year 2015 (January 1 – December 31, 2015). If your January 2015 utility bills do not cover the whole month, you will need to upload your December 2014 bills, if you are billed monthly, or your November 2014 bills, if you are billed bi-monthly.

For each reporting, data must be uploaded into Portfolio Manager and shared with Port Benchmarking Account by April 1 each year.

For reporting in 2018 of 2017 calendar year data, the reporting deadline was April 1, 2018.

To comply with Ordinance 2844, you will only need to report the meters provided by the utility. For example, if you have installed electric sub-meters on your marina to monitor each slip’s energy consumption, but there is only one electric meter on your property from SDG&E, you will only need to add the main meter to your Portfolio Manager account.

For the energy reporting requirement, Ordinance 2844 only requires the reporting of electric (both purchased from the grid and self-generated) and natural gas energy fuel types. Entering consumption data for all other fuel types (like propane) is completely optional and not required by Ordinance 2844.

Ordinance 2844 does not require the reporting of cost data.

As required by Ordinance 2844, each utility account holder is responsible for reporting their utility consumption data, whether they are a tenant or sub-tenant. Where sub-tenant utility usage is captured by a tenant’s meter AND is not billed directly by the utility, Ordinance 2844 requires that the tenant report the sub-tenants utility usage data.  

When setting up your organization’s account, you can use your own contact information or general contact information for your organization. Whether you use individual or organizational information, we recommend only one person uploads data each month to prevent duplicate data entry. However, it is advisable to have at least two or more people within your organization have access to the account (i.e. know the log-in credentials) in case the person in charge of reporting utility data leaves your organization.

Portfolio Manager is designed so that your account can have multiple properties. If your account already has your property information and utility data for that property, then you will want to ensure this property is updated with the mandatory utility consumption data (e.g., energy and water utilities, calendar year data starting January 1, 2015, property information), rather than creating a new property, to comply with the Ordinance 2844. If you need guidance on updating data for an existing property in Portfolio Manager, or are not sure what you should do with the existing property or properties in your account, please contact Tenant Support (email: tenantsupport@portofsandiego.org).

Deleting a property is permanent, so be sure that you want to delete the property before you begin this process. If you wish to do so, go to the “My Portfolio” tab. Under the box with the list of properties in your account, click the name of the property you wish to delete. Once you are brought to the “Property Level” view of the property you wish to delete, click the “Details” tab. Scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will see the button “Delete this property” in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Note the information bulletin that states deleting your property is permanent and cannot be undone. If you are sure you want to delete your property, click the “Delete this Property” button. A pop-up will appear confirming your decision. If you are sure you want to delete the property, click “Continue;” otherwise, click “Cancel.” You will be brought back to the “My Portfolio” tab and should see a green notification box at the top of the screen saying that you have deleted the property you selected from your portfolio.

Portfolio Manager is a powerful tool and contains more than 80 property types to choose from when setting up your property. Download the list of Portfolio Manager property types, definitions, and use details here

Choose a property type that best describes how the majority of your building functions. If you are unsure of the most appropriate property type for your building(s), please contact Tenant Support (email: tenantsupport@portofsandiego.org).

More than 85% of Americans recognize the ENERGY STAR^® label, which, for certified buildings, represents superior energy performance. ENERGY STAR^® buildings use, on average, 35% less energy than similar buildings nationwide, generate more income compared to other buildings, are occupied 4% more than traditional buildings and offer many other benefits, such as increased marketing potential. Currently, there are more than 25,000 ENERGY STAR^® certified buildings.

Certain property types with an ENERGY STAR^® score of 75 or above may be eligible to apply for ENERGY STAR® Certification. In order to be eligible for certification, your property must:
•    Be an eligible property type
•    Property in Portfolio Manager is for an entire building
•    Energy usage reported via Portfolio Manager does not include any non-building energy use (e.g. shore power) other than parking lot lighting

Note: that the UURO requires all utility usage, not just building-level energy usage, be reported to the Port of San Diego

If you have questions about ENERGY STAR^® certification, please contact TenantSupport@portofsandiego.org