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Nectar Utility Data Automation Platform

website·Indexed 32 days ago

https://docs.nectarclimate.com

A utility data automation platform and API for collecting, managing, and exporting utility bills and usage data. Nectar provides tools for automated data input via connections, uploads, and manual entry, as well as data export integrations with platforms like Energy Star, Metrio, Watershed, and Sphera.

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What's inside Nectar

  1. Overview of Bill Pay Destinations

    A destination is the final endpoint where bills are delivered after routing rules have been evaluated. Nectar supports two types of destinations:

    1. Email destinations: Forwards bills to one or more email addresses (e.g., AP teams or shared queues).
    2. AP/ERP integrations: Pushes coded invoices directly into accounting systems. Supported systems include SAP S/4HANA, Oracle Fusion, Workday Financials, and NetSuite. (QuickBooks Online is available by request via support@nectarclimate.com).

  2. Overview of Nectar Usage Estimation

    Usage estimation is an optional module that provides persisted usage fills at the site and commodity level when bills or usage data are missing. These fills ensure that data completeness and analytics remain usable.

    Key constraints include:

    • Scope: Fills apply only to the combined site + commodity level (e.g., total electricity for a site). They do not apply to sub-site filters such as meter tags, fuel types, or waste streams.
    • Exclusions: Fills never substitute for bills in the Data Inventory and do not appear as meters or connections in the Aggregation Inspector.
    • Persistence: Fills are stored as snapshots and are not calculated live on page load.

  3. Overview of Nectar utility data automation

    Nectar is a platform designed to automate the collection of utility data. It connects to utility portals to automatically download bills, uses AI to read and structure the data, and provides clean data for sustainability reports, carbon accounting, and analytics. Key capabilities include automated bill collection, PDF/image bill uploads, data exports to platforms like ENERGY STAR and Watershed, and data quality monitoring (anomalies and completeness).

  4. Overview of Nectar Bill Pay automation

    Bill Pay automates the handoff between Nectar and an organization's accounts payable process. Once a utility bill is collected and processed, Bill Pay evaluates it against routing rules and delivers it to a specified destination, such as an email inbox, a centralized payment workflow managed by Nectar, or an ERP system (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Workday, NetSuite, or QuickBooks Online).

  5. Overview of Nectar Data Export options

    Nectar provides two primary methods for exporting utility data (such as kWh, therms, and gallons) and billing information. Both methods support date range filters and site selection to scope the exported data.

    1. Quick Export: Best for ad-hoc analysis, stakeholder sharing, or custom tools. It generates downloadable .xlsx or .csv files.
    2. Integrations: Best for recurring delivery to sustainability or reporting platforms. This method either pushes data via API or generates a platform-specific file for manual upload.

  6. Overview of Nectar Webhooks

    Nectar webhooks send POST requests to a developer-specified endpoint when events occur (e.g., connections created, documents processed). The endpoint must return a 2xx response within 15 seconds to acknowledge receipt. If the endpoint framework uses CSRF protection, it must be disabled for the webhook URL. All incoming webhooks should be verified using signature verification before processing.

  7. Overview of Nectar and SpheraCloud Integration

    The Sphera integration connects Nectar to SpheraCloud Corporate Sustainability to automate the transfer of per-bill utility data. Nectar pushes utility data into Sphera via a Data Import channel and reads stored values back via a Data Acquisition channel to perform month-by-month usage comparisons. The integration relies on import mappings in Sphera to determine which questionnaire and question each piece of Nectar data is assigned to.

  8. Overview of Nectar Data Inventory views

    The Data Inventory is the central repository for all utility data in Nectar. It consists of three primary views accessible via the Data Inventory menu:

    • Bills: Browse processed utility bills, including charges, usage data, and original documents.
    • Accounts: Manage utility accounts, track billing status, and view associated meters.
    • Meters: View physical utility meters, usage history, and identifier mappings.

  9. Overview of SAP S/4HANA integration for Bill Pay

    Nectar integrates with SAP S/4HANA Cloud (public and private editions) and S/4HANA on-premise (2020 FPS02 and later) to post coded utility bills as supplier invoices. The integration uses the standard SAP Supplier Invoice Integration scenario (SAP_COM_0057), exposing the API_SUPPLIERINVOICE_PROCESS_SRV OData service and A_SupplierInvoice entity. Posted documents are visible in the Supplier Invoices List and are compatible with the standard payment run (F110).

  10. Overview of Connection Invitations

    Connection invitations are the recommended replacement for legacy Magic Links. They allow developers to expose Nectar's utility connection UI to end users to handle multi-factor authentication (MFA) and complex login workflows. Unlike magic links, invitations are database-backed, revocable, auditable, and can be scoped to specific email addresses.

    Workflow:

    1. Server calls Nectar API to create an invitation and receives an invitationUrl.
    2. The URL is shared with the user (email, iframe, or direct link).
    3. User completes the flow in Nectar's hosted UI.
    4. Nectar collects data and sends connection.created.v2 or connection.updated.v2 webhooks to the server.

  11. Overview of Savings detection and tracking

    The Savings module helps identify bill patterns that represent estimated cost-saving potential. It is divided into two main areas: the Overview page for high-level totals (Money at risk, Immediate savings, Potential savings, and Total savings) and the Opportunities inbox for triaging specific findings. Note that dollar amounts are estimated potential, not realized savings. Total savings are de-duplicated so that overlapping findings on a single bill or account are not double-counted.

  12. Overview of Nectar Invitations

    Invitations allow account owners to create or reconnect utility connections via a secure, shareable link. The recipient logs into their utility account directly on a secure page; Nectar captures the login and automates bill collection without the platform owner ever seeing the user's password. Invitations are the modern replacement for the legacy 'magic link' system and offer better security, auditability, and control.