TABLE OF CONTENTS


All of our Omnimeters can be set up for Time Of Use (TOU) billing. In order for your Omnimeter to record TOU kWh correctly you will first need to program your meter based on the TOU periods and tariffs that your electric utility is using.


The Omnimeters can keep track of four separate TOU tariffs (T1,T2,T3,T4) to calculate the energy used at different periods of time. For example, if your energy is more expensive from 1PM to 7PM and it is cheaper from 7PM to 11PM, the meter can separately keep track of the kWh recorded in these different periods of time. It can be set for up to 4 time periods per day and it can specify the tariff for that period (from T1 to T4).

You can apply the tariffs to, up to, four different seasons, weekends, and individual holidays if the TOU tariffs change throughout the year. You will need to refer to you utility bill to determine your TOU tariffs, seasons, and what other settings might apply in your case. 


For TOU bill generation with Encompass, an Omnimeter and a Push3 Gateway are required. 


At a high level the set up is a 3 step process:


Step A – Meter TOU Settings

You will first want to get a utility bill to determine what the TOU periods and tariffs are so you know what period to program into the Omnimeter for each tariff. In order to program the Omnimeter via the Push3 you will need to be logged in to your Account Portal.

  1. Once you've logged in to your EKM Push Account Portal, click on the meter you want to program in the left column.
  2. Click on the 'Tariff Schedules' tab. The Account Portal will then load the current TOU settings of the meter.
  3. From your utility bill, determine if there are multiple seasons (date ranges) when the TOU rates change throughout the year. Often times utilities will have separate rates for the summer and winter, for example. The date ranges should be somewhere on your utility bill. Once you find them, enter the start dates of each date range into Seasons portion of the TOU settings and apply a schedule to each one. Which schedule you apply is arbitrary at this point. Click the 'Save Seasons' button when you're ready and proceed once you have confirmation that the setting was successful.
  4. Assign a tariff number to each of the tariffs your utility uses. For example, your utility might have a Peak rate and an Off Peak rate. You could apply Tariff 1 (T1) to Peak and Tariff 2 (T2) to Off Peak. Which Tariff number you apply to each rate is arbitrary at this point but what you choose will apply to all schedules.
  5. Enter the start times for each tariff, next to the schedule that applies to the proper date range. For example, if you are setting up tariffs for the summer date range, which you've set to Schedule 1 in this example, set the start time for T1 (which is the peak rate in this example) and the start time for T2 (which is the off peak rate in this example). Sometimes the same tariff can happen multiple times throughout the day, in which case you will need to enter the start times for both periods into separate time slots. Repeat for all of the schedules that you are setting your meter up with. The full 24 hour period is represented to the right of each schedule so that you can visually see which tariffs have been applied to which parts of each day. Click the 'Save Schedules' button when you're ready and proceed once you have confirmation that the setting was successful.
  6. If your utility applies holiday rates to specific days of the year, add those dates to the "Holidays' section of the settings options. Click the 'Save Holidays' button when you're ready and proceed once you have confirmation that the setting was successful.
  7. In the 'Holidays and Weekend Schedules' section choose which which schedule to apply to each. If you utility does not apply specific rates to weekends, select the 'Not enabled' option. Sometimes utilities will apply the same rates as a particular season, like the winter rates for example. In that case you would select the same schedule as you set up for the winter period. Similarly, select the holiday schedule you want to apply to holidays, or choose the "Not enabled' option. Click the 'Save Holiday/Weekend Schedule' button when you're ready and proceed once you have confirmation that the setting was successful.


Step B – Wait For Data

The Omnimeter/Push3 will need to record enough TOU data, after you've completed the settings in step A, that Encompass will have good data to work with. The Push3 will need to have read the meter for at least an hour, with the correct TOU settings, for you to be able to set up the TOU bill in Encompass. With at least a day worth of good TOU data you will be able to generate test bills to make sure everything is working as expected, before you ultimately send the real bills to your tenants in the future.


Step C – Encompass TOU Billing Settings

You will first need to log in to your Encompass account, which you can do here: https://encompass.io/meters/login/
Or you can register an here, if you haven't already: https://encompass.io/meters/signup/


  1. Once you've logged in, click on the meter or group you want to set up billing for in the left column
  2. Click on 'Bills' in the dashboard header and then click on 'Billing Settings'
  3. A modal will open with six steps. On Step One - Rate/Units, first select 'Time Of Use' from the 'Billing Type' dropdown list. If you are presented with an error this is for one of two reasons:
    1. Your meter is being read by a Push2 and not a Push3, so it is not supported by Encompass TOU Billing. You would need to upgrade to a Push3 in order for this feature to work.
    2. The meter's Push3 has not yet recorded enough TOU data for the meter. So if the meter has been programmed with the correct TOU settings, described on Step 1 above, and the meter is being read by its assigned Push3, then you will just need to wait an hour or two and then try this again.
  4. If the modal changes to display TOU rates and other settings then Encompass has received your meter's TOU data and you are ok to proceed.
  5. Select the kWh type (Total kWh is most commonly used) and currency from the other two available dropdown lists.
  6. Apply names to each schedule. As discussed on Step 1, the schedules could be the names of the seasons, eg Summer and Winter, or Holidays, etc. It is best to use the same names that your utility does for the the different date ranges in order to limit possible confusion in the future.
  7. Apply names to each tariff. As discussed on Step 1, the tariffs could be names like Peak, Off Peak, etc. It is best to use the same names that your utility does for the the different tariffs.
  8. Find the rates for each tariff on your utility bill and enter them into the proper text box that aligns with the right schedule (horizontal axis) and tariff (vertical axis).
  9. Once all of the available text boxes have name or rate entered, and you are ready to proceed, click 'Save & Continue to go to the nest step of the billing settings. The next 5 steps are the save for flat rate and TOU billing.

Step Two - Credits and Fees (Optional)

These optional fields allow you to enter fixed and/or % credits, and/or fees, that will be applied to the bill. You can apply both fixed and % credits and/or fees to each bill, or just fixed credits and/or fees, or just % credits and/or fees. If none apply to the bill you want to generate, you can leave the fields blank the the check boxes unchecked.


Step Three - Tenant Info

  1. Enter the address and other contact information for the tenant that is being billed. The fields outlined in red are required.

Step Four - Billing Agent Info

  1. Enter the address and other contact information for the landlord, property manager, or billing agent. The fields outlined in red are required.
  2. The text box at the bottom allows you to include more information about how or when you would prefer that your tenant contact you. Due to limited space on the bill, this message in limited to four lines, 30 characters per line.
  3. If you have multiple bills to set up, and would like to use the same billing agent contact information for each bill, check the "Save as Default" checkbox so you don't need to repeat step 4 for each bill.


Step Five - Payment Info

  1. The upper optional text box allows you to tell your tenant how you would like the bill to be paid. Due to limited space on the bill, this message in limited to four lines, 30 characters per line.
  2. The lower optional text box allows you to include a message to your tenant. Due to limited space on the bill, this message in limited to four lines, 30 characters per line.
  3. The dropdown list at the bottom allows you to select the due date that will be included on the bill. This will default to 30 days from the end of the billing period unless you change it.

Step Six - Billing Schedule

  1. The settings at the top allow you set up a monthly bill. These will alway generate for the latest completed month, or complete period that is selected. The default monthly bill is set to generate from the beginning to the end of each give month. The other options allow you to select a period that includes parts of two months. So for example, if you select 5th - 4th, the bill will generate from the 5th of one month to the 4th of the following month.
  2. The "Send to Tenant" check box can be checked if you would like the bill sent directly to the tenant's email address, that you entered on step three. The "Send to Billing Agent" check box, which is checked by default, should be checked if you would like the bill sent directly to the billing agent's email address, that you entered on step four. If you check both boxes then the bill will be sent to both email addresses.
  3. On the right of the period selection you will see the "Send Bill" button, which allows you to generate a bill for the period that is stated under the button. If the button is clicked the bill will generate and will be emailed according to the checked boxes.
  4. If you would like the bill to generate and send automatically every month, check the "Schedule Monthly Bills" check box.
  5. Check the box to "Use tenant start date" if you do not want the bill to show usage comparisons for periods before the tenant moved in.
  6. Check the boxes for PDF and/or CSV, depending on the format you would like to receive. The CSV option was added as an option 3/21/2023.
  7. The bottom "Custom Billing" settings allow you to select the beginning and end dates for any period that you would like a bill to generate for. It is not possible to schedule custom bills but you can generate them manually at any time. The "Send to Tenant" and "Send to Billing Agent" check boxes work like the monthly billing option, as does the "Send Bill" button.
  8. Once you are done you can click the "Save Billing Settings & Close" button to exit the billing modal.


To return to a previous step, simply click on the green number at the top of the billing modal.


*Please Note: If you schedule monthly bills you will need to log in to your Encompass account once per year (before 10/16/2023 this was once per 180 days) in order for the scheduled bills to continue. If you do not log in once per year the bills will stop sending automatically. To start them again you would need to log in to your account and check the box to schedule them and then click the save button.


Billing History

When bills are generated the recipients will be emailed links to download the bill PDFs. You can also find the links within the app, in Billing History. The last 5 bills, of each type (monthly, custom) will be available to download.