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Property Management

MeterBase organizes energy data around properties grouped into portfolios. This guide covers creating portfolios, adding properties, and understanding the property data model.

Portfolios

A portfolio is a logical grouping of properties. Use portfolios to organize by region, owner, fund, or any other category that makes sense for your business.

Creating a Portfolio

  1. Navigate to Portfolios in the sidebar
  2. Click New Portfolio
  3. Enter a name and optional description
  4. Click Create
curl -X POST https://api.meterbase.io/api/portfolios \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Southeast Region",
    "description": "Florida and Georgia multifamily assets"
  }'

Each portfolio displays aggregate statistics: total properties, total monthly cost, total potential savings, and average cost per unit.

Adding Properties

There are three ways to add properties to MeterBase.

Method 1: Manual Entry

  1. Navigate to a portfolio
  2. Click Add Property
  3. Fill in the property details (name, address, ZIP code, unit count, square footage)
  4. MeterBase auto-detects the serving utility from the ZIP code
  5. Click Save
curl -X POST https://api.meterbase.io/api/properties \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "portfolio_id": 1,
    "name": "Lakewood Gardens",
    "address": "500 Lake Dr",
    "city": "Orlando",
    "state": "FL",
    "zip_code": "32801",
    "unit_count": 120,
    "square_footage": 95000
  }'

Method 2: CSV Import

Bulk import properties from a CSV file.

Required CSV columns:

Column Description Example
name Property name Lakewood Gardens
address Street address 500 Lake Dr
city City Orlando
state Two-letter state code FL
zip_code 5-digit ZIP code 32801
unit_count Number of dwelling units 120

Optional CSV columns:

Column Description Example
square_footage Total building square footage 95000
year_built Year of construction 1998
property_type Property subtype garden, mid-rise, high-rise
current_tariff Current rate schedule name GS-1 
curl -X POST https://api.meterbase.io/api/properties/import \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -F "file=@properties.csv" \
  -F "portfolio_id=1"

CSV Template

Download a CSV template from the Add Property > CSV Import tab in the web UI.

Method 3: PMS Import via Propexo

If you have connected a property management system through Propexo, you can import properties directly:

  1. Navigate to Integrations > Propexo
  2. Select the PMS connection
  3. Click Import Properties
  4. Select properties to import and assign to a portfolio
  5. MeterBase creates the properties and syncs unit-level data

See the Propexo Integration Guide for full details.

Automatic Utility Lookup

When you add a property, MeterBase uses its database of 120,015 ZIP-to-utility mappings to automatically identify which utility serves that location.

flowchart LR A["Property ZIP: 32801"] --> B["ZIP-Utility Lookup"] B --> C["Duke Energy Florida"] B --> D["Orlando Utilities Commission"]

Some ZIP codes are served by multiple utilities. When this happens:

  • MeterBase shows all matching utilities and asks you to select the correct one
  • The most common utility for that ZIP is pre-selected
  • You can always change the utility later from the property detail page

Multiple Utilities per ZIP

In deregulated markets or areas with municipal utilities, a single ZIP code may map to 2-5 different utility providers. Always verify the correct utility for each property.

Property Detail Page

The property detail page is the central hub for each property. It displays:

Section Content
Overview Address, utility, unit count, square footage, current tariff
Bill History Timeline of uploaded bills with costs, usage, and trend charts
Current Cost Most recent bill total, cost per unit, cost per sqft
Savings Best available alternative tariff and estimated annual savings
Units List of units (if synced from PMS), with occupancy and sqft
Tenant Billing RUBS calculation history and pending charges

Editing Properties

Update property details from the detail page or via API:

curl -X PUT https://api.meterbase.io/api/properties/1 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Lakewood Gardens (Renovated)",
    "unit_count": 124,
    "square_footage": 98000,
    "current_tariff_id": 4521
  }'

Changing the Utility

Changing a property's utility may invalidate previous savings analyses. MeterBase will prompt you to re-run the analysis after the change.

The Property Data Model

Understanding what MeterBase stores for each property:

Field Type Description
id Integer Unique identifier
portfolio_id Integer Parent portfolio
name String Property name
address String Street address
city String City
state String Two-letter state code
zip_code String 5-digit ZIP code
unit_count Integer Total dwelling units
square_footage Integer Total building sqft (optional)
year_built Integer Year of construction (optional)
property_type String Subtype: garden, mid-rise, high-rise (optional)
utility_id Integer Foreign key to the serving utility
current_tariff_id Integer Foreign key to the current rate schedule (optional)
propexo_property_id String External ID from PMS via Propexo (optional)
created_at Timestamp Record creation time
updated_at Timestamp Last modification time

Properties are soft-deleted. Removing a property from the UI archives it but preserves historical data for reporting.

Deleting Properties

  1. Open the property detail page
  2. Click Settings > Delete Property
  3. Confirm the deletion
curl -X DELETE https://api.meterbase.io/api/properties/1 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

Soft Delete

Deleting a property archives it. Bill history, savings analyses, and tenant billing records are preserved. Contact support to permanently purge data if required for compliance.