Introduction

Purpose

In Sigma it is important that your Utility Portfolio is correctly set-up in such a way that it can be used to efficiently to perform the tasks that will be required of it, be that the validation of incoming charges and/or the use of it for Monitoring and Targeting.

The aim of this document is to describe the considerations that affect the structure that you decide on for your portfolio and the resulting information that needs to be communicated for its configuration in a new Sigma environment.

Overview

The creation of a new Sigma environment, and its preparation for use, is dependent on the sourcing of the relevant utility portfolio information. This information is used to set up the system so that it is "aware" of the portfolio that it is being used to monitor or manage.
The importance of this is most clearly demonstrated using examples;

If a Meter is not configured in the system, then the system will not be able to associate the readings or consumption to it when they arrive.
If an Account, for which it is expected that bills will periodically be received, isn't defined then the system will be unable to associate and validate the bills when they are received for it.
If the rates under which a supply has been contracted are not defined in the system, then the system will not be able to validate that the charges in the bills received are calculated using the expected rates.

The Sigma Portfolio Definition spreadsheet is used by customers to provide the data that will be used to initially populate Sigma for their organisation. This data includes the Organisation, Site and Meter data that will allow customers to effectively manage their energy.
The portfolio created using the Sigma Portfolio Definition spreadsheet is effectively the structure against which information that is subsequently received (e.g. utility bills, meter reads or consumption) is recorded. This "transactional" data is used for the validation of subsequent information received and the provision of reports that enable the generation of insights regarding the portfolio and its commodity usage. The implication of this is that it is often desirable to have an amount of transactional data loaded into the system in advance of its production use.
Some examples where this is relevant would include;

Bill Validation: Within Sigma there are bill validation routines that compare the values declared on bills received to those declared on previous bills for the account. If there is no previous bill information, then this validation would not be performed for the first set of bills received.
Meter Reads: Without any historic transactional data the validation of Meter Reads received would not have anything to validate the first read received against.
Reporting: Sigma is used to create reports that are often used to recognise trends in commodity usage. If there is no consumption information regarding the time prior to Sigma being implemented then the implication would be that a period of data capture would be required before it would be possible to recognise deviations from expected usage.

The format in which historic transactional data may be available varies significantly from implementation to implementation and as such the importing of it into Sigma is addressed on an ad hoc basis, driven mainly by the consideration of what information is readily available and what format it is in. The details of the loading of historic transactional data, and a specification of the format it is required in, is therefore not included in this document.

Sigma Items

Introduction

The Sigma product uses standard entities to model your Utility Portfolio. These entities are known as items and include such things as Sites and Accounts. The different items are used to help organise and structure the information that is held within the application. The correct initial configuration of these items is of the utmost importance for Sigma to be utilised efficiently for M&T or the accurate validation of your bills.

Sigma Item Hierarchy

The Sigma product is based on different items types that are related in the hierarchical structure below.

Fig 1: Sigma Portfolio Infrastructure Entity Relationship Diagram (Initial Configuration)

Fig. 1 above displays the item types that make up the fundamental basis of your utility portfolio. It is by defining these in a logical manner for the provision of your utilities of different commodities that modelling of your utility portfolio will be achieved.
The above diagram is focused on the items that make up the infrastructure of your portfolio. To provide the technical capability to record information and automate its validation, the model needs to be extended to include additional items.

Fig 2: Sigma Extended Entity Relationship Diagram (Initial Configuration)

While the above may seem daunting at first, it is a logical representation of the information required and the purpose of this document is to facilitate its understanding. It is by understanding the structure of the Sigma application that the most effective configuration of your portfolio can be achieved.

Item Types

The following table provides an overview of the different item types shown in Fig.2.

Item Type	Level	Purpose
Provider	1	A Provider is the legal entity that supplies you with services or a utility for which you expect to be charged. A single Provider may supply you with more than one utility (e.g. Electricity and Gas). Within Sigma there are three main types of Provider which are; Supplier, Meter Operator or Data Collector and Aggregator. A single Provider may fulfil any one or more of these services. A Provider may be the party responsible for the provision of a utility to your meters but may not be a Supplier in the industry sense of the term. This is typically relevant to scenarios where your utility charges are passed through by another party, for example you have a rented property and your landlord recharges the utility costs.
Contract	2	A Contract is a referenceable agreement between you and the Provider. A Contract may be evergreen in which case the Permanent option is selected, or it may be timebound, having both a start date and an end date. A Contract is for a single commodity type and may cover one or more supply points and their meters. As a Contract is related to one and only one commodity this means that, if you were to have a dual fuel type agreement, this would be represented by one Provider with two Contracts.
Organisation	1	The Organisation is the top-level entity with respect to the portfolio's physical structure. An Organisation may be created for each legal entity that is billed and responsible for the consumption of utilities, or a single Organisation may be created for an entire group. In most cases a single Organisation is used to manage a customer's portfolio. The decision with regards to the number of Organisations that you wish to create largely comes down to the need to differentiate the assets attributable to each. If there is a strong need to separate information then it would be sensible to have separate Organisations (for example if there is a need to attribute inbound and outbound costs to different legal entities), however, if the combined picture is more often of interest then a single Organisation is likely to achieve the desired results.
Site Group	2	Site Groups are another level of hierarchical configuration in addition to Organisations. Site Groups are completely optional and may or may not be used. Site Groups can be used to structure your portfolio in a logical way. Site Groups might for example be used to mirror the geographic distribution (e.g. North, East, etc…), the cost centre that the Sites attributed to them belong to (e.g. Retail, Manufacturing, etc..) or some other frequently referenced grouping with your organisation. As Property Keys can be used to assign specific properties, the selection of the Site Group is not the only way in which Sites can be distinguished as you could for example configure with graphical site groups and then assign a cost centre based property and use that to select and work on Sites.
Site	3	Sites are the physical locations to which your utilities are supplied. These will typically be buildings and be referenceable by a postcode. Sites have specific properties and the contact details of someone that is responsible for them. Over time a Site may be Closed or become Non-Operational. The specification of Sites is typically easier than the selection of the number and level of Organisations and Site Groups to create as they are a one to one mapping with the physical distribution of your infrastructure.
Account	4	Accounts in Sigma are the items that represent the granular Supply Point level at which you are billed. It is anticipated that there be only one Supply Point effective for an Account on any one specific day. An Account is also expected to be for a single commodity, so while it may be that a Supply Point is associated to an Account, and its configuration may change over time resulting in multiple Supply Point records, it is not expected that Supply Points for different commodities are associated to the same Account. Account configuration is needed if your intention is to use Sigma for bill validation purposes. As a rule of thumb, if wanting to estimate the number of Accounts you will need to configure, it would be the answer to the question "How many distinct supplies of different commodities, do I expect to receive bills for for my usage on any one specific day?". Note, this is different to the number of bills, as one single bill from a supplier may include several your supplies (typically referred to as a bulk bill).
Supply Point	4	Supply Points represent the industries' physical infrastructure required for the provision of a utility of a given commodity to your Site. In the case of utilities that aren't supplied continuously (e.g. Oil Deliveries), the Supply Point represents the storage facility on-site. The Supply Point in Sigma is the Item that links the different parts of the story (physical, technical and supply) together. The provision of a utility through a Supply Point is normally technically measured using Meters, that may record readings/consumption based on differing frequencies. The quantity of the utility, or its availability for use if required, (the supply) is billed to the customer based on their contractual agreement with their Providers. Supply Points are the entities that provide visibility of the Contract Containers that link these different aspects together for defined periods of time.
Meter	4	A Meter is the equipment that measures and records the flow of a utility through a Supply Point during a period of time. The provision of utilities is often measured based on recording the amount consumed directly or recording readings of how much has flowed through the Meter at two separate times and then inferring that the amount consumed is the difference between the readings. The creation of Meters is required if you wish to use Sigma for Monitoring and Targeting purposes. As Meters represent the technical physical reality there is no need for any decision making with regards to the level and number of these that need to be created. Distinct Meters need to be created for each Meter from which you anticipate receiving data which needs to be loaded into Sigma.
Non Periodic Channel	5	Channels are the time series data holders that are used in Sigma to record and manage data. Similar to Meters, and their use of readings or consumption, Channels come in two types; Non-Periodic and Periodic. A Non-Periodic Channel is a channel for which consumption or reading data is entered along with the datetime for which they are applicable. A Non-Periodic Channel is required in order to be able to use Sigma to Enter Meter Readings.
Periodic Channel	5	A Periodic Channel is used to record data for cases where the measurement of consumption is performed on a routine recurring periodic basis.
Associated Data	6	Associated Data is used to record supplementary information to be used in validation or the calculation of data. Examples of the use of Associated Data include the definition of floor areas for sites to enable the calculation of usage per m2 rates, the definition of the Agreed Supply Capacities for Supplies to be used in the validation of charges or the definition of PPU rates for Accounts which are also used in the validation of charges.
Contract Container	6	Contract Containers are the intermediary object used to relate Contracts, Accounts, Supply Points and Meters. A Contract Container defines, for a period of time, the Contract that is applicable for the provision of a utility through the Meters on a Supply Point that is billed via an Account. Contract Containers are not displayed as a separate Item type via the Sigma UI and are effectively created and modified via Supply Points. A Supply Point may have one or more Contract Containers over time. A Contract Container can only be associated to one Supply Point (and one Contract, one Account and one or more Meters).
Property Key	6	Property Keys are the method by which it is possible to assign custom data to the entities in your Utility Portfolio. These custom properties can then be used to search for records in your portfolio. All Property Keys that are defined to be created need to be assigned a reference of the record that they are to be allocated to. For example, it may be desirable to use the "AMR" Property Key which has values of "True" or "False". If this Property Key is to be used then the Meter or Meters to which we wish to assign it need to be defined.

Table 1: Sigma Item Types List

Sigma Portfolio Definition Spreadsheet

Overview

The Sigma Portfolio Definition spreadsheet contains several tabs:

Organisation
Site Group and Site
Account and Supply
Meter and Channel
Provider and Contract
Property Keys
Associated Data

Details of each tab and the information required are provided in the following sections.

The tabs provide a description of the field, the format required and a maximum size where relevant (e.g. the Organisation Registered Name is a string that cannot be more than 50 characters).

The information here also provides a useful overview of the terminology used within the Sigma application.

Template File

Attached is the template to be used for the definition of your portfolio.

Note: Click then click on to download the CSV file.

Summary

The content of Sigma can be displayed via the Sigma application using the Tree Selector. When this is used a hierarchy, similar to a typical folder and file structure, is displayed.

Fig 2: Example Sigma Tree Selector

In the above figure there are more item types than have been described in Table 1 as this example has been taken from a Sigma Environment that has been used, and therefore contains the additional items that are created during the use of Sigma. For the initial configuration of a Sigma environment only the items defined in Table 1 need to be created.
The spreadsheet in Section 3.2 is used to create the items in Table 1 in a new Sigma environment.
Each field in the spreadsheet is colour coded to identify whether the data is mandatory in Sigma or if it is recommended that the data is provided to get the full benefit of the Sigma features:

Colour	Data Required in Sigma
	Mandatory Fields
	Highly Recommended
	Recommended Fields, non-essential
	Non Essential

Recommended and non-essential fields can be left blank if data is not available, not needed or to be added later. A column 'Mandatory Condition' to identify whether a field is mandatory or recommended is also shown against each field in the tables in the Tab Details section.

Tabs

Each tab in the workbook is a template representing a set of data to be loaded into Sigma. The tabs allow for the definition of information that will be used to create one, two or three items in Sigma. The Organisation & Site Groups and Sites tabs are mandatory and must be populated as a minimum for data to be loaded into Sigma. The other tabs can be populated largely depending on the intended use of Sigma.

Tab	Number of Item Types	Items	Intended Sigma Usage
Organisation	1	Organisations	Energy Management & Bill Validation (hence always Mandatory)
Site Groups and Sites	2	Site Groups Sites	Energy Management & Bill Validation (hence always Mandatory)
Account and Supply	2	Accounts Supply Points	Bill Validation
Meter and Channel	2	Meters Channels	Energy Management requires both Meter and Channel information & Bill Validation only requires Meter information
Provider and Contract	3	Providers Contracts Contract Containers	Bill Validation
Property Keys	1	Property Keys	Optional for Bill Validation (use effectively means additional validation is possible)
Associated Data	1	Associated Data	Optional for Bill Validation (use effectively means additional validation is possible)

Table 2: Item Definition Requirements based on Intended Usage

Mandatory Conditions

Specific tabs include fields that are only mandatory if the tab is being used to create child items. The cases where this is applicable are defined in the table below.

Tab	Mandatory Condition	Rationale
Meter and Channel	Mandatory if Channel is being added	The Meter and Channel worksheet caters for the creation of Meters and associated Channels. If Channels are being defined then the fields listed as "Mandatory if Channel is being added" are required.
Provider and Contract	Mandatory if Contract is being added	The Provider and Contract tab can be used to define the Contracts that supplies are under. If this capability is to be used the fields listed as "Mandatory if Contract is being added" are required.
Provider and Contract	Mandatory if Contract Container is being added	The Provider and Contract tab can be used to define the Contract Containers that link the Accounts, Supplies and Meters to the Contracts that they are provisioned/serviced under. If this capability is to be used the fields listed as "Mandatory if Contract Container is being added" are required.

Table 3: Mandatory Condition Clarification

Tab Layout

Each tab contains a Header in row 1 containing the item field, such as Address 1 that are colour coded to match the key shown in section 3.3, and sample data in row 2 to show the type of information that can be populated.

Recommended and non-essential fields can be left blank however it is recommended that all fields are completed for an item that is being added e.g. all Account fields are populated where an Account is being added.

Tab Detail

Organisation

This tab contains details of the Organisation to be set up in Sigma. There should be only one Organisation per database however, more can be added after discussion with TEAM if required.

Specification

Field Name	Format	Max Size	Field Description	Mandatory Condition
Registered Name	Text	50	Organisation name. Unless there is a reason for which multiple Organisations are required, it is typical to configure a single Organisation for the entire portfolio. Unique for each entry Used as a reference by information supplied on other sheets	Mandatory
Company Number	Text	50	Registered Number of the organisation
Address 1	Text	50	Address Line 1 of the Organisation
Address 2	Text	50	Address Line 2 of the Organisation
Address 3	Text	50	Address Line 3 of the Organisation
Address 4	Text	50	Address Line 4 of the Organisation
Address 5	Text	50	Address Line 5 of the Organisation
Postcode	Text	10	Post Code of the Organisation
Phone	Text	20	Main Phone Number of the Organisation
Fax	Text	20	Fax Number of the Organisation
GPS Longitude	Text	20	GPS Longitude for Organisation (HQ)
GPS Latitude	Text	20	GPS Latitude for Organisation (HQ)
Contact Name	Text	50	Main Contact Name for the Organisation
Contact Address 1	Text	50	Address Line 1 for Main Contact
Contact Address 2	Text	50	Address Line 2 for Main Contact
Contact Address 3	Text	50	Address Line 3 for Main Contact
Contact Address 4	Text	50	Address Line 4 for Main Contact
Contact Address 5	Text	50	Address Line 5 for Main Contact
Contact Postcode	Text	10	Post Code for Main Contact
Contact Phone	Text	20	Main Phone Number for Main Contact
Contact Fax	Text	20	Fax Number for Main Contact
Contact Mobile	Text	20	Mobile Number for Main Contact

Site Group and Site

This tab contains details of the Site Groups and Sites to be set up for the Organisation added in 3.5.1.1.
Sites reflect a physical location within a company's portfolio, with Site Groups used to group together a collection of Sites e.g. properties within a local region or buildings of the same occupancy type, such as primary schools, hospitals and leisure facilities.
Site names should be unique and it is recommended that the Site address is always included. Site Groups are recommended however for small organisations these are optional where it may not be necessary to group Sites.

Specification

Field Name	Format	Max Size	Field Description	Mandatory Condition
Organisation Registered Name	Text	50	Organisation name. Unless there is a compelling reason to need to configure multiple Organisations, it is typical to configure a single Organisation for the entire portfolio.	Mandatory
Site Group Name	Text	50	The use of Site Groups to structure your portfolio is entirely optional. If required, the Site Group Name of each site should be defined here. There can be multiple site groups split by region or sector etc. E.g. Schools, Leisure Centres, Offices	Highly Recommended
Site Name	Text	255	Name of the Site, such as Linford Forum Unique for each entry Used as a reference by information supplied on other sheets	Mandatory
Site Reference	Text	255	Reference that relates to the Site specifically for the Organisation
Contact	Text	50	Site Contact Name
Title	Text	50	Site Contact Job Title
Tel Number	Text	50	Site Telephone Number
E-mail	Text	255	Site Email address (could be the above contact's email)
Id Code	Text	50	Id Code (shorter than reference) that relates to the Site specifically for the Organisation
Financial ID Code	Text	50	Financial Id Code (shorter than reference) that relates to the Site specifically for the Organisation, normally used for Accounts Links
Address 1	Text	50	Address Line 1 for Site	Highly Recommended
Address 2	Text	50	Address Line 2 for Site	Highly Recommended
Address 3	Text	50	Address Line 3 for Site	Highly Recommended
Address 4	Text	50	Address Line 4 for Site	Highly Recommended
Address 5	Text	50	Address Line 5 for Site	Highly Recommended
Postcode	Text	10	Post Code for Site	Highly Recommended
Phone	Text	20	Main Phone Number for Site
Fax	Text	20	Fax Number for Site
GPS Longitude	Text	20	GPS Longitude for Site
GPS Latitude	Text	20	GPS Latitude for Site
Contact Name	Text	50	Site Contact Name (additional if needed)
Contact Address 1	Text	50	Address Line 1 for Site Contact (if different from Site address)
Contact Address 2	Text	50	Address Line 2 for Site Contact (if different from Site address)
Contact Address 3	Text	50	Address Line 3 for Site Contact (if different from Site address)
Contact Address 4	Text	50	Address Line 4 for Site Contact (if different from Site address)
Contact Address 5	Text	50	Address Line 5 for Site Contact (if different from Site address)
Contact Postcode	Text	10	Post Code for Site Contact (if different from Site address)
Contact Phone	Text	20	Main Phone Number for Site Contact (if different from Site address)
Contact Fax	Text	20	Fax Number for Site Contact (if different from Site address)
Contact Mobile	Text	20	Mobile Phone Number for Site Contact (if different from Site address)

Account and Supply

This tab contains details of Accounts and Supplies to be set up for each Site.
An Account stores the account details given by the Provider (Supplier) and is required to hold billing data. If Sigma is to be used for bill validation activities, the Account data must be entered.
A Supply Point is the unique identifier for a supply e.g. electricity Supply Point or gas MPR.

It is the one thing which will stay constant about the supply so it is important that these are set up correctly. Providers (also known as Suppliers) supply the energy used for a negotiated Contract.
It is recommended that for every Account set up, Supply Point data is also entered. This will allow use of the Activities and Widgets in Sigma which use this data.

Specification

Field Name	Format	Max Size	Field Description	Mandatory Condition
Site Name	Reference		Defined on Site Group and Sites worksheet	Mandatory
Account Number	Text	255	Unique account number as given on a manual bill or EDI file (Not the Group Account Number) Must be unique per Account Used as a reference by information supplied on other sheets	Mandatory
Time Zone	Text	50	Time-Zone to display data e.g. Europe/London, GMT. A default of Europe/London will be used where not populated. Contact Support for assistance if the required time-zone is not listed	Highly Recommended
Commodity	Text	11	The commodity of the Account. Values are: Gas Electricity Water Oil Other	Mandatory
Meter Number	Text	255	Meter Serial Number of a Meter associated to the Account	Highly Recommended
Comment	Text	50	Additional comments related to the account where applicable
NPI Factor	Numeric	38 Max 10 DP	National Performance Indicator
Tolerance Days	Numeric	38 Max 10 DP	Overdue bills tolerance days - number of days to allow before bill is considered overdue.
Cost Centres	Text	50	Cost Centre Code, used in Accounts Link
Proportion	Numeric	38 Max 10 DP	Cost Centre Proportion, e.g. 100% or 15% and another at 85%.
From Date	Date dd/mm/yyyy	18	From Date for Cost Centre Code
To Date	Date dd/mm/yyyy	18	To Date for Cost Centre Code
Active	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Account is currently active and receiving invoices Either TRUE or FALSE	Highly Recommended
Invoiced	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Account is currently active and receiving invoices Either TRUE or FALSE	Recommended
Current	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Account is currently active and receiving invoices Either TRUE or FALSE	Recommended
Contract	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Account is currently active and receiving invoices and in contract Either TRUE or FALSE	Recommended
Sub Meter	Boolean		Flag identifying if there are Sub Meters on Site Either TRUE or FALSE
Main Site Meter	Boolean		Flag identifying if there is a Main Site Meter (and/or if you have data for this meter) Either TRUE or FALSE
Recharge to Landlord	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Account data is used/involved in a recharge to the landlord Either TRUE or FALSE
Total for Splitting	Boolean		Flag identifying if this is a Billed Account that is used to recharge and split to multiple areas/tenants etc. Either TRUE or FALSE
Recharge to Tenant	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Account data is used/involved in a recharge to a tenant Either TRUE or FALSE
Manipulated Fraction	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Account does not contain a full bills as from supplier but only contains parts of bills, e.g. when Multi-meter bills are split to individual Accounts Either TRUE or FALSE
Above 100 kWh	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Electricity account is settled in the half-hourly market i.e. is rated above 100kWh Either TRUE or FALSE
Below 100 kWh	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Electricity account is NOT settled in the half-hourly market i.e. is rated below 100kWh Either TRUE or FALSE
Meter Operator Bills	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Electricity account has invoices from a Meter Operator (MOP) Either TRUE or FALSE
Water	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Water account has invoices including Water supply charges Either TRUE or FALSE
Rates	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Water account has invoices including water Rates Either TRUE or FALSE
Sewerage	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Water account has invoices including Sewerage charges Either TRUE or FALSE
Effluent	Boolean		Flag identifying if the Water account has invoices including Effluent charges Either TRUE or FALSE
Supply Point Identifier	Numeric	21	The unique identifier for a supply. Values are: Electricity - the full Supply Number (21 digits) Gas - MPRN Other commodities - a unique identifier All Accounts/Meters should have a link to a Supply Point regardless of the commodity. Must be unique for each Supply Used as a reference by information supplied on other sheets	Mandatory
Supply Point Reference	Text	50	A reference for the Supply Point, usually set to the same as the Supply Point Identifier

Meter and Channel

A Meter is a Database Item and is where details concerning an individual meter are kept, including its serial number, the Commodity (i.e. gas, electricity and water), the type of meter it is and how it reads the energy.
The meter may be a physical electricity, gas or water meter and have readings that increase as energy is used or consumption data which is a measurement of the amount of energy used.
A Channel is required to hold the data that comes from a meter. There are two types of Channel:

Non-Periodic – these are used for Meter readings or consumption that is provided on an irregular basis, such as NHH meters or those meters that are manually read.
Periodic – these are used for Half hourly or interval/AMR/smart meters, that provide data at regular fixed intervals. Meters of this type will record the data on a consistent interval such as every half an hour and often send the information electronically.

Specification

Field Name	Format	Max Size	Field Description	Mandatory Condition
Site Name	Reference		Defined on Site Group and Sites worksheet	Mandatory
Meter Name	Text	255	Meter Name of a Meter Must be unique for each Meter Used as a reference by information supplied on other sheets	Mandatory
Identifier	Text	255	Meter Serial Identifier of a Meter
Number	Text	255	Meter Serial Number of a Meter	Mandatory
Commodity	Text		Commodity of the Meter. Examples are: Electricity Gas Water Oil or another commodity	Mandatory
Meter Type	Text		Type of Meter. Examples are: Code 5(for main meter) AMR Meter Domestic Others can be created however it is advisable to limit the number of types in your database.	Mandatory
Installation Date	Date dd/mm/yyyy	18	Installation date of when then the meter was installed on site	Recommended
GPS Longitude	Text	20	GPS Longitude of the Meter
GPS Latitude	Text	20	GPS Latitude of the Meter
Location	Text	1024	Location of the Meter, helps to locate a meter if a reading needs to be taken	Recommended
Description	Text	2048	Description of the Meter
Channel Name	Text	255	Channels sit underneath the Meter and store the data, either: HH (known as Periodic Channels) NHH (known as Non Periodic Channels) Must be unique Used as a reference by information supplied on other sheets	Mandatory if Channel data is being added
Periodic Channel	Boolean		Flag indicating whether the channel is a non-periodic or periodic channel. Either TRUE or FALSE	Mandatory if Channel data is being added
Data Load ID 1	Text	250	This must be the exact Id used in any files with HH or AMR data that needs to be loaded into Sigma, otherwise the importing of data will not load to the correct Meter. Must be unique	Mandatory if Channel data is being added
Data Load ID 2	Text	250	This is a field that the import files will check if there is no match on the first.
Data Type	Text		Values are: Energy Consumption Volumetric Consumption Reactive Power Lead Reactive Power Lag Energy Cost IncTax Energy Cost ExTax Fiscal Cost IncTax Fiscal Cost ExTax Emission Energy Consumption and Volumetric Consumption are the most common type used. Contact Support for assistance if the required type is not listed	Mandatory if Channel data is being added
Selected Time Zone	Text	50	Time-Zone to display data e.g. Europe/London, GMT. A default of Europe/London will be used where not populated. Contact Support for assistance if the required time-zone is not listed	Highly Recommended
Unit Measurement	Text	11	This is dependent on the Data Type e.g. Energy Consumption Data Type is likely to be a unit of kWh whereas Volumetric Consumption is likely to be by m3 or ft3	Mandatory if Channel data is being added
Conversion Factor	Numeric	38 Max 10 DP	If there is a conversion factor needed, e.g. from m3 to kWh. Default is 1
Data Measurement	Text		Either Consumption or Averaging Values
Flag: Meter Readings	Boolean		Flag identifying if the channel is from manual meter readings Either TRUE or FALSE	Highly Recommended

Provider and Contract

This tab contains details of the Providers, Contracts and Contract Containers to be set up in the Sigma environment.
The Provider Contracts and the related Contract Containers are the way in which Sigma can recognise the way in which charges for usage is levied and validate the bills received.

Specification

Field Name	Format	Max Size	Field Description	Mandatory Condition
Provider	Text	50	Name of Provider or Supplier e.g. Npower	Mandatory
Meter Operator	Boolean		Flag representing whether the Provider is operating in the Role of Meter Operator Either TRUE or FALSE	Mandatory
Data Collector or Aggregator	Boolean		Flag representing whether the Provider is operating in the Role of DC or DA Either TRUE or FALSE	Mandatory
Supplier	Boolean		Flag representing whether the Provider is operating in the Role of Supplier Either TRUE or FALSE	Mandatory
Contract Name	Text		Name to identify the contract e.g. 'Npower HH 01/04/17 -31/03/19'	Mandatory if Contract data is being added
Contract From Date	Date dd/mm/yyyy	18	From Date of the Contract with the Provider	Mandatory if Contract Container data is being added
Contract To Date	Date dd/mm/yyyy	18	To Date of the Contract with the Provider	Mandatory if Contract Container data is being added
Provider Financial Code	Text	20	Financial Code associated to the Provider, normally used in Accounts Link
Account Number	Reference		Defined on Account and Supply worksheet	Mandatory if Contract Container data is being added
Supply Point Identifier	Reference		Defined on Account and Supply worksheet	Mandatory if Contract Container data is being added
Meter 1 Meter Name	Reference		Defined on Meter and Channel worksheet	Mandatory if Contract Container data is being added
Meter 2 Meter Name	Reference		Defined on Meter and Channel worksheet. Only populated if the contract is applicable to more than one meter on the Supply Point.
Meter 3 Meter Name	Reference		Defined on Meter and Channel worksheet. Only populated if the contract is applicable to more than one meter on the Supply Point.
Meter 4 Meter Name	Reference		Defined on Meter and Channel worksheet. Only populated if the contract is applicable to more than one meter on the Supply Point.
Meter 5 Meter Name	Reference		Defined on Meter and Channel worksheet. Only populated if the contract is applicable to more than one meter on the Supply Point.

Property keys

Property Keys allow additional information to be stored alongside the standard Database Item. They can be utilised in a number of ways including:

Bill Validation - a method of assisting in checking a utility bill to ensure it meets certain criteria.
Filtering and searching - a method of filtering and searching for information.
Reporting - a useful way to distinguish between data.

The name is defined by the user with the type of data to be entered for the Property Key determining the type to be added:

True/False – use where something can be marked as either true or false e.g. HH
Number with Decimals (any size) – use where a number containing decimals is required e.g. the PPU rate for Gas bills
Number to 10 digits (no decimals) – use to enter an integer up to 10 numbers long e.g. a target or number of occupants
Number to 20 digits (no decimals) – use to enter an integer up to 20 numbers long e.g. MPAN Core
Characters – use where text, date or any character is required e.g. Current DEC Rating or DEC Renewal Date

Specification

Field Name	Format	Max Size	Field Description	Mandatory Condition
Parent Type	Text	100	Specify which Database Item the Property Key should be attached to. Valid values: Provider Organisation SiteGroup Site Account SupplyPoint Meter NonPeriodicHFDChannel PeriodicHFDChannel	Mandatory
Parent	Text		The identifier of the object that the property relates to. The population of this field is dependent on the Parent Type.	Mandatory
Property Key Name	Text	255	The name of the Property Key. This field represents the purpose of the Property Key, for example you may wish to have a property key called “Cost Centre” against accounts in which you define the cost centre to which the charges incurred by the account are attributed.	Mandatory
Property Key Description	Text	100	The description of the Property Key. This is a textual description of the purpose of the property key.	Mandatory
Property Key Type	Text	100	The type of Property Key to be added. Valid values are: True/False Number with Decimals (any size) Number to 10 digits (no decimals) Number to 20 digits (no decimals) Characters

Associated Data

Associated Data is used to add data in Sigma that is time dependent. This capability is used for the capture of information such as the population of a site, the area of a site, the pence per unit (ppu) rates applicable for an account or the available capacity applicable for a supply.

Specification

Field Name	Format	Max Size	Field Description	Mandatory Condition
Parent Type	Text	100	Specify which Database Item the Associated Data should be attached to. Valid values: Organisation Site Account SupplyPoint Meter	Mandatory
Parent	Text	100	The identifier of the object that the property relates to. The population of this field is dependent on the Parent Type.	Mandatory
Associated Data Name	Text	255	The name of the Associated Data to be created	Mandatory
Associated Data Type	Text	100	The type of associated data. This can be either a new data type as required or one of the pre-existing data types:	Mandatory
Unit	Text	100	One of the below values Pre-Configured Units

Sigma Online User Manual

Defining Your Utility Portfolio

Introduction

Purpose

Overview

Sigma Items

Introduction

Sigma Item Hierarchy

Item Types

Sigma Portfolio Definition Spreadsheet

Overview

Template File

Summary

Tabs

Mandatory Conditions

Tab Layout

Tab Detail

Organisation

Specification

Site Group and Site

Specification

Account and Supply

Specification

Meter and Channel

Specification

Provider and Contract

Specification

Property keys

Specification

Associated Data

Specification