Overview: Profile Analysis

A profile analysis produces load shapes - graphical representations of data values over a selected period of time - for a given channel.

Use care when generating a profile due to the possibility of creating a spurious one (e.g., creating a daily profile for an 8 hour/5 day/week facility in which the off-use Saturday and Sunday are incorporated into the result).

Why run a profile analysis?

Just as a summary analysis provides the minimum, maximum, and average values recorded by a meter or data recorder, a profile analysis reveals how the data values impact typical usage, giving you a snapshot of the values - how the data appears over time.

Questions that can be answered by a profile analysis include:

• What does the typical energy profile for a week or month look like?

• How does this profile or load shape compare to the actual recorded values for the past week or month?

• Are there any unexpected anomalies?

• Is demand or usage increasing over time?

Some conclusions that may be drawn from this analysis include:

• Usage and demand anomalies may account for a particularly high or low bill. They may also signal the possibility of a system deficiency or problem that requires attention.

• Increased usage and demand may mean that your systems are becoming less energy efficient, you may qualify for a better rate schedule, or you are simply growing your operations.