Milwaukee Efficient Buildings Benchmarking Program

Step 1: Determine if You Are Required to Benchmark

First, search for your property in the City of Milwaukee Covered list by list or map.

Do you see it listed?

• If YES, you are required to benchmark. Proceed to the next steps. If your building is listed but you don't believe your building meets the definition of a covered building under this ordinance, please complete a Dispute Inclusion in the Covered Buildings List form.
• If NO, please assess if your building meets the definition of a covered building. If so, please fill out a Covered Buildings List Addition Form to have your building added to the list

If your building is not on the list AND your building does not meet the definition of a covered building, you are not required to report. Just because you aren't required doesn't mean you shouldn't take part in this activity. Benchmarking is a great way to track and reduce energy costs in your building.

Step 3: If You Don't Track Use, Create an Account

1. Gather 12 months of energy utility bills. If you don't already have one, visit the We Energies website to create an account and access your utility bill information. Energy use information can be downloaded from the We Energies website, and then uploaded into your Energy Star Portfolio Manager account, or the information can be entered manually. 

1a. If there are at least 4 tenants in the building, and you pay the utility bill for at least one account in the building, such as the common area or parking, or at least one tenant's account reverts to you, you should be able to access the whole-building aggregated energy data for the building. This means that you would not see the individual tenants' energy use, it would all be combined, and you could just enter that combined monthly data into the Energy Star Portfolio Manager account for the building.

Here is the link to the Landlord-Tenant Portal: We Energies Landlord-Tenant Portal. Once you are registered through the Landlord-Tenant Portal and can see the average energy data for each tenant, you will then need to click on Property Usage History under Quick Links to see the whole-building aggregated energy data for each month. That data can then be entered into the Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool by creating a meter for each energy source (electricity, gas and/or steam)

2. Use the Quick Start Guide to create an ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager account.

3. Use these instructions to input the data from your utility bills into the tool.

4. Share your data with the City following Step 2, Option A above.

NOTE: We Energies is piloting the "My Meter" solution to allow for automatic transfer of your energy use data from your We Energies account directly to ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager account. To do this, create a "My Meter Profile" to transfer energy data from your electric bill to your building account in the tool.

• Go to the "My Meter" tool and enter your utility bill account numbers.
• In the tool, select the "Property" tab to transfer your electric utility account details to the account for your property in the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager tool.

*You MAY be eligible for rebates up to $200 per month for 6 months through the Focus on Energy Practical Energy Management Program if this is the first time you are benchmarking energy use in the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager tool.