Why does my meter-based bill show zero consumption or missing data?

When generating a bill from meter data, you may see zero consumption or missing line items for some tenants. Here is a troubleshooting checklist:

Step 1: Check the tenant has assigned locals

The billing system finds meters through the tenant's locals. If no locals are assigned, no meters are found.

• Go to Buildings → select building → Units tab
• Verify the tenant is assigned to at least one local
• Check the tenant_locals junction table: the tenant must have an active assignment

Step 2: Check meters exist for those locals

The system looks for meters through three paths: direct assignment, local allocation, and distribution rules. At least one must be configured.

• Go to Buildings → Meters tab → check each meter's assignment_type and linked local or distribution rule

Step 3: Check meters have readings in the billing period

No readings = zero consumption. The system only counts readings within the billing period dates.

• Go to Analytics → Meters → select the meter → verify data exists for the period
• Check Analytics → Data Import to confirm the import source is active and recent

Step 4: Check the meter is active

Only meters with status = "active" are included in billing queries. Meters set to "inactive" or "maintenance" are excluded.

• Buildings → Meters tab → check the Status column

Step 5: Check distribution rule is active

For building-level meters, the distribution rule and its allocations must both be is_active = true.

• Buildings → Meters tab → select meter → Distribution → verify rule and allocations are active

Step 6: Check the billing period dates

For local allocations and distribution rules, the effective dates must overlap the billing period. If effective_from is after the period end, or effective_to is before the period start, the allocation is excluded.

Step 7: Check spot price availability

For electricity, if no spot prices exist for your building's price zone and billing month, the base rate will be zero, resulting in zero cost even with consumption data.

• Verify your building has a detected price zone (Buildings → edit building)
• Check Analytics → Energy tab to see if spot prices are displaying

Quick validation: The system has a built-in setup validator that checks all of the above. It reports exactly which checks pass and which fail with specific issue descriptions.