Energy and utility management for retail

Every new store adds utility accounts, bills, and due dates. Nectar collects and validates every bill across your store network, pays them on time, benchmarks stores against each other, and handles account openings and closings, so energy management scales with the business instead of the headcount.

Retail store interior with lit display aisles

Retail energy is a volume problem. A chain with a few hundred stores can have more than a thousand utility accounts across dozens of utilities, each with its own portal, bill format, and due date. Most stores look alike on paper, so the ones with failing HVAC, lighting left on overnight, or the wrong rate schedule are hard to spot in a stack of invoices.

Nectar treats the store network as one portfolio: bills collected and parsed automatically, stores compared on the same basis, and validated bills paid on time or delivered to AP as coded payables.

Challenge

Hundreds of small bills bring late fees and shutoff notices.

Solution

Nectar pays US utility bills through regulated payment partners, holds bills with errors, flags late fees and interest, and forwards disconnection notices to site contacts within one business day.

Challenge

Store openings and closings leave accounts behind.

Solution

Nectar opens and closes accounts in your name, requests deposit waivers and refunds, and confirms final bills reflect the closing date, so closed stores stop generating charges.

Challenge

Outlier stores are invisible in a stack of similar invoices.

Solution

Stores are benchmarked on cost and energy intensity per square foot with weather-normalized trends, and anomalies are flagged when each bill arrives, so the stores that need a visit stand out.

Store benchmarking that finds the outliers

Compare stores by format, region, or any attribute you track, with cost, usage, demand, and energy intensity side by side. Weather-normalized comparisons separate a hot summer from an HVAC problem, and the AI agent answers questions such as which stores had the largest cost increase this quarter, citing the bills behind each answer.

Every electric and gas account is reviewed against the rate schedules it qualifies for once 12 months of data are in, which adds up across hundreds of similar accounts.

Strip of storefronts in a shopping center at dusk

Bill pay and AP at store scale

Approval rules route bills by site, utility, amount, or GL code. Routine bills clear automatically and larger ones go to an approver, with escalating reminders as due dates approach. Each bill is coded to your GL, cost center, and store.

Monthly accruals cover bills not yet received, and a payment ledger and reconciliation statement keep the close on schedule.

Utility invoices and a laptop on a finance desk

Why retail teams choose Nectar

Utility bills moving through review, funding, and payment

Data

Every store bill parsed at the line-item level at 99.2% accuracy, with each value linked to its source bill and stores benchmarked on the same basis.

Automation

Bills collected from 7,000+ utilities, validated before payment, routed by approval rules, and paid or delivered to AP without manual entry.

Service

Account opening and closing for every store change, human review of flagged bills, and a named customer success manager who knows your network.

What changes for retail teams

Every store bill paid on time

Before Nectar, store managers forwarded bills and AP chased due dates. After, validated bills are paid on schedule and errors are held before payment.

→ Utility bill payments

Openings and closings handled

Before Nectar, closed stores kept generating bills for months. After, accounts are closed in your name and final bills are confirmed.

→ Account open and close

Outlier stores flagged

Before Nectar, stores were reviewed only when a budget was missed. After, intensity benchmarks and anomaly alerts point to the stores that need attention.

→ Benchmarks

Late fees and interest visible

Before Nectar, late fees were buried in line items across hundreds of bills. After, they are flagged on every bill so they can be disputed or avoided.

→ Late fees and tax tracking

Frequently asked questions

Can Nectar handle utility bills for leased stores?

Yes, for any store with its own utility accounts. Nectar collects bills from the utility portal, email, or mail, and paper bills are scanned and processed with electronic billing requested where offered.

How quickly can new stores be added?

Submit an account opening request at least 20 business days before the store opens, and Nectar opens service in your name and adds the accounts to automated collection.

Does Nectar integrate with our ERP?

Yes. Standard connections cover SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Workday, Coupa, and Bill.com, with flat file, SFTP, or API delivery for other systems.

One platform for every utility decision

Utility bill management, energy cost management and procurement, and sustainability reporting in one system, shared by energy, finance, operations, and sustainability teams.

Nectar utility bill management — utility data management feature

Utility bill management

Every bill for every utility, waste, and telecom account collected, parsed at the line-item level, and tracked against its expected date.

Automated bill collectionData completenessAudit trailAI agent and smart reports
Nectar sustainability reporting and benchmarks — utility data management feature

Sustainability reporting and benchmarks

Audit-ready data for ESG reporting, site benchmarks, ENERGY STAR sync, and exports to carbon accounting platforms.

BenchmarksENERGY STAR Portfolio ManagerESG and carbon integrationsWaste and recycling
Nectar bill audit, bill pay, and ap — utility data management feature

Bill audit, bill pay, and AP

Errors caught before payment, past overcharges recovered, and validated bills paid on time or delivered to your AP system.

Utility bill auditsHistorical bill auditUtility bill paymentsAP and ERP integration
Nectar energy cost management and procurement — utility data management feature

Energy cost management and procurement

Tariff and rate optimization, demand management, and procurement advisory. Customers typically save 3 to 5% of annual utility spend.

Tariff and rate optimizationDemand managementProcurement advisoryBudgeting and forecasts

Loved by customers in every industry

Customer Stories
Featured

How Thomas Foods automated more than 90% of its utility data collection

Thomas Foods International uses Nectar to collect and organize utility data across its US facilities, replacing manual bill downloads and spreadsheet entry.

“Using Nectar has significantly streamlined the process of gathering and analyzing our utility data. The platform just works!”
Jonathan R., Sustainability Director at Thomas Foods Int., USA — Nectar customer

Jonathan R.

Sustainability Director, Thomas Foods Int., USA

Read the case studyFeatured

Stanwich Energy Boosts Client Value with Nectar's Utility Data Solution

Stanwich Energy announces a new partnership with Nectar to enhance the customer experience through advanced, AI-powered utility data services.

“Partnering with Nectar's AI-driven platform has been groundbreaking, allowing us to tackle changes faster and skip the outdated, painful integration required by other solutions. Having the right information is the first step, and Nectar is exactly what we have been looking for to make that happen.”
Matt Shaw, Managing Director at Stanwich Energy — Nectar customer

Matt Shaw

Managing Director, Stanwich Energy

Read the case study
Jeremy Pike, Sustainability Leader at Idaho Milk Products — Nectar customer

Jeremy Pike

Sustainability Leader, Idaho Milk Products

“Thanks to Nectar's innovative solution, we can accurately assess our environmental impact, becoming a pioneer in sustainability among our peers.”

John O'Connell, CEO and Founder at Stanwich Energy — Nectar customer

John O'Connell

CEO and Founder, Stanwich Energy

“Nectar enables faster insights, smarter forecasting, and more accurate budget tracking. It also strengthens our ability to deliver on key sustainability goals by providing real-time visibility into usage and emissions.”

Matt Greening, Founder and Director at Nettzero — Nectar customer

Matt Greening

Founder and Director, Nettzero

“Nectar serves as a reliable and cost-effective technology solution to extract, store, and analyse sustainability data leading to enhanced reporting capabilities and streamlined workflows.”

Ready to get started with Nectar?

Try your utility bill on our live demo or get in touch

Try it with my utility billBook a demo

Learn more about Nectar

How hard can data collection get? What has worked for companies? We've got it all covered.

Utility bill management and AI — Nectar blog

Utility bill management and AI

How AI changes utility bill management, from automated data extraction and anomaly detection to centralized control of utility spend across a portfolio.

Read more
How Nectar parses granular utility cost data — Nectar blog

How Nectar parses granular utility cost data

How Nectar separates supply, delivery, and demand charges on every bill, so energy and finance teams can see exactly what drives utility spend.

Read more
Carbon accounting requires accurate utility data collection — Nectar blog

Carbon accounting requires accurate utility data collection

Carbon accounting has 3 steps: data collection, emissions calculation, and data reporting. Error rates of 10% in data collection compound into worse error in the CDP report. Garbage in, garbage out.

Read more

Nectar is an AI-native utility bill management platform for commercial and industrial organizations, with 99.2% line-item parsing accuracy, coverage of 7,000+ utility providers, and automated data collection.

Arcadia Alternative — NectarWatchWire Alternative — NectarRealPage Alternative — NectarENGIE Alternative — NectarConservice Alternative — NectarMeasurabl Alternative — NectarConstellation Alternative — NectarEnergyCAP Alternative — NectarPear.ai Alternative — NectarCass Information Systems Alternative — NectarJadeTrack Alternative — NectarGridium Alternative — NectarYardi Energy Alternative — NectarTango Energy Alternative — NectarBuildingOS Alternative — NectarBrightly Energy Manager Alternative — NectarIBM Envizi Alternative — NectarWatershed Alternative — NectarPersefoni Alternative — NectarSchneider Electric EcoStruxure Alternative — NectarKODE Labs EnerG Alternative — NectarScope 5 Alternative — NectarNuvolo Alternative — NectarSweep Alternative — NectarBayou Energy Alternative — NectarUrjanet Alternative — NectarSiemens Navigator Alternative — NectarGravity Climate Alternative — NectarCalico Energy Alternative — NectarEntronix Alternative — NectarDude Solutions Alternative — NectarEnergyPrint Alternative — NectarSalesforce Net Zero Cloud Alternative — NectarDiligent ESG Alternative — NectarPlan A Alternative — NectarNormative Alternative — NectarCarbonChain Alternative — NectarGreenly Alternative — NectarUS Energy Solutions Alternative — NectarNavitas Alternative — NectarCenergistic Alternative — NectarEnergy Profiles Alternative — NectarUtilityAPI Alternative — NectarVerse Alternative — NectarAirbills Alternative — NectarSagiliti Alternative — NectarEnergyElephant Alternative — NectarEnertiv Alternative — NectarDcycle Alternative — Nectariqbi Alternative — NectarZevero Alternative — NectarDeepki Alternative — NectarTermina Alternative — NectarInvofox Alternative — NectarCost Control Associates Alternative — NectarUtiliSave Alternative — NectarCortex Building Intelligence Alternative — NectarAquicore Alternative — NectarSINAI Technologies Alternative — NectarCoolset Alternative — NectarCozero Alternative — NectarTerrascope Alternative — NectarEVORA Global Alternative — NectarGenea Alternative — NectarLogical Buildings Alternative — NectarBillee Alternative — NectarNumo Alternative — NectarZego Alternative — NectarAnchor Utility Alternative — NectarBuiltrix Alternative — Nectar
Data Completeness ViewAutomated Data CollectionCarbon Accounting IntegrationsAudit TrailTariff and Rate OptimizationsLate Penalties and Tax TrackingUtility Bill PaymentsUtility Bill AuditsBudgeting and ForecastsBenchmarks and AuditsEnergyStar IntegrationDemand ManagementHistorical Bill AuditProcurement AdvisoryProjects, Rebates, and Grid ProgramsWaste and RecyclingUtility Account Open and CloseAP and ERP IntegrationAI Agent and Smart Reports