When calculating the utility rate for electricity and gas, it's important to ensure that the units are in line with the analysis.tool defaults. In order to do this, we need to look at the utility bill and convert the units to $/kWh.

Most electricity bills are already in kWh. If not, consult with your engineer/utility provider in order to convert to $/kWh. As a result, no unit conversion is required. One thing to look at in detail is the additional fees that are common for electricity billing. An example of possible charges is provided below that shows some of the fees that may be found on an electric bill for a small general service structure.

It is critical that these values are summed in order to avoid 'surprise' charges and fees that might not have been accounted for in the top line of billing. Also, be sure to check your local, state, and federal taxes and take those into account for the grand total.

There are two main ways to measure the cost of gas: by the cubic foot in thousands or hundreds (MCF and CCF respectively) and by therm. Firstly, identify which unit of measure your particular service provider bills you in, then use the table below to convert to $/kWh which you can then use in analysis.tool.

For example, if your utility company bills you $0.074 per therm used, you would use the below method to convert it to a usable input.

You can then use 0.02526 as the input value for the Gas Utility Rate in the analysis.tool baseline energy calculation.