How to turn on ongoing monitoring for your meters
Ongoing Monitoring is UtilityAPI’s scheduled collections service. Once a meter is enrolled, UtilityAPI automatically monitors it for new data at your chosen frequency — daily, weekly, or monthly — with no manual re-authorization required.
When you authorize a utility account through UtilityAPI, you can choose between on-demand collections (one-time or manual) or enrolling meters in Ongoing Monitoring for scheduled collections. With Ongoing Monitoring active, UtilityAPI monitors each enrolled meter for new bill or interval data based on the frequency you select, and collects it automatically when available.
Before you begin
Ongoing Monitoring (scheduled collections) is available on Prepaid plans. You’ll need an active UtilityAPI account with at least one completed authorization before you can enroll a meter. If you’re on a Pay As You Go plan, you’ll need to upgrade to access this feature.
Steps to Enroll a Meter in Ongoing Monitoring
- Log in to your UtilityAPI dashboard. Go to utilityapi.com and sign in with your account credentials to access your Dashboard.
- Select the authorization containing the meter to enroll. Find the authorization you want to monitor on an ongoing basis. Click on either Get Data or See Data.
- Enroll the meter in Ongoing Monitoring. Select Start Ongoing Monitoring. Confirm the meter/s selected, select the frequency and Start Monitoring.
- Monitoring begins! Monitoring will turn on. Under Latest, you will be able to see when the next collection will occur.
- Optional: Enroll multiple meters via the Dashboard. To enroll all meters in an authorization, select the checkbox at the top of each authorization name. You may select as many authorizations as needed or as many meters across multiple authorizations. Select Update Data and Start Ongoing Monitoring.
- Optional: Enroll multiple meters via the API. UtilityAPI supports enrolling meters into Ongoing Monitoring directly through the API using the /api/v2/meters/ongoing-monitoring endpoint.
✓ Pro Tip
Archiving a meter does not stop scheduled collections or unenroll it from Ongoing Monitoring. To stop being charged, you must explicitly unenroll the meter from its Ongoing Monitoring subscription.
What to Expect After Enabling
Once a meter is enrolled in Ongoing Monitoring, UtilityAPI handles scheduled collections automatically. Here’s what happens:
- Automatic scheduled collections: UtilityAPI monitors the enrolled meter for new bill or interval data at your chosen frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly) and collects it when available.
- Webhook notifications: If webhooks are configured, you’ll receive a notification each time new data is collected. Ongoing Monitoring does not have a dedicated webhook event. Instead, Ongoing Monitoring updates generally surface through the standard event system and updated meter/bill/interval data.
- Monthly subscription fee: Your account is charged a flat monthly fee per enrolled meter based on the monitoring frequency and your pricing plan. See utilityapi.com/pricing for current rates.
- No re-authorization needed: The customer does not need to re-authorize. The Ongoing Monitoring subscription continues until you unenroll the meter, the authorization is revoked or expired, or the utility requires reauthorization due to MFA.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often does Ongoing Monitoring check for new data?
You choose the monitoring frequency when you enroll a meter: daily, weekly, or monthly. UtilityAPI monitors the meter at that cadence and attempts to collect any new data that has become available. Note that Ongoing Monitoring does not guarantee successful collection of all available data — it monitors for availability and attempts collection.
Can I unenroll a meter from Ongoing Monitoring later?
Yes. You can unenroll a meter at any time through the dashboard or by updating the collect_ongoing setting to false via the API. This stops the scheduled collections and the associated monthly subscription fee without revoking the underlying authorization.
How am I charged for Ongoing Monitoring?
Your account is charged a flat monthly subscription fee for each meter enrolled in Ongoing Monitoring. The fee depends on your chosen monitoring frequency (monthly, weekly, or daily) and your pricing plan (Pay As You Go, Prepaid, or Custom). See the Scheduled Collections pricing table at utilityapi.com/pricing for current rates.
What happens if UtilityAPI monitors a meter but finds no new data?
This is still considered a successful scheduled collection. UtilityAPI monitors the enrolled meter for new data availability. If no new data is available at that monitoring interval, the subscription fee still applies. If new data becomes available at the next scheduled date, UtilityAPI will attempt to collect it.
What if the customer’s authorization is revoked or expires?
If the authorization associated with a meter is revoked or expires, or if UtilityAPI has not been able to collect data for that meter in the last 6 months, the Ongoing Monitoring subscription will no longer incur charges. The customer will need to re-authorize to resume scheduled collections.
When does the first scheduled collection happen after enrolling?
The first collection is scheduled one full frequency period from the date you initiate monitoring. For example, enrolling a meter in a weekly subscription means the first refresh is scheduled approximately one week later, covering that one-week period. If you also need full historical data for the meter, you must run a separate on-demand Historical Collection in addition to enrolling in Ongoing Monitoring.
Can I set a specific day of the month for monthly collections?
Yes. For monthly subscriptions, you can set a fixed_refresh_day parameter (an integer) when starting Ongoing Monitoring via the API. This sets the day of the month on which collections will run. If the value exceeds the number of days in a given month, the collection runs on the last day of that month. This parameter can only be set on meters without an active monitoring subscription and only applies to monthly frequency. By default, UtilityAPI optimizes the timing of monthly updates to align with each meter’s billing cycle.
This option is not available through the Dashboard.
How do I stop Ongoing Monitoring for a meter via the API?
Send a POST request to the Ongoing Monitoring endpoint with the meter UIDs you want to stop and set "frequency": "off" in the POST body. This bulk-stops monitoring for all listed meters. By default, all meters start with frequency set to off (no automatic monitoring).
Will Ongoing Monitoring collect all historical data for the meter?
No. Ongoing Monitoring only collects data from the date you initiate monitoring onwards — it does not backfill historical data. If you need past bills or interval data, run a separate on-demand Historical Collection first, then enroll the meter in Ongoing Monitoring to keep data current going forward.
Can I check a meter’s current Ongoing Monitoring settings?
Yes. Each meter object includes an ongoing_monitoring attribute in the Meters API response. It shows the active frequency, the next scheduled refresh date (next_refresh), the next billing date (next_prepay), and any fixed refresh day set for monthly subscriptions.
In the Dashboard, refer to the Latest column associated with the meter.