Power BI Service Automatically Converts PST Date to UTC – How to Keep DB Date as PST?

[manoj_0911]

Power BI Service Automatically Converts PST Date to UTC – How to Keep DB Date as PST?

Hi everyone,

I'm facing a timezone issue and would appreciate your help.

I’m pulling data into Power BI from a SQL Server database. The [TXN_DATE] column in the database is stored in Pacific Time (PST/PDT). I’ve confirmed with the DB team, and also verified from actual data values — it’s definitely not UTC.

my customers operate in the PST timezone, and I want the date/time to appear in local Pacific Time exactly as stored in the DB.

However, after I:

• Load the data into Power BI Desktop (Transform Data view shows [TXN_DATE] as UTC),

• Publish the report to Power BI Service,

…the datetime values seem to shift by 7 or 8 hours, depending on DST — as if Power BI is interpreting them as UTC and converting them to the browser/machine’s local time.

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❓My Questions:

1. How can I prevent Power BI Service from auto-converting the PST datetime to UTC or local browser time?

2. Is there a way to explicitly tell Power BI that my datetime column is already in PST, and it should be kept that way?

3. If Power BI always treats date/time as UTC by default, what is the best practice to retain PST in reports consistently between Desktop and Service?

Thanks in advance for your guidance!

[rajendraongole1]

Hi @manoj_0911  - adding few points , Power BI assumes datetime values are in UTC and converts them based on the service or browser’s local time.

to retain:

at power query editor, DateTime.AddZone([TXN_DATE], -8)

Use the new DateTimeZone-typed column in visuals and calculations,Avoid using the original column that Power BI interprets as UTC. Hope this helps.

reference Links:

DateTimeZone functions - PowerQuery M | Microsoft Learn

[Akash_Varuna]

Hi @manoj_0911 Power BI assumes datetime values are in UTC, leading to auto-conversion. To retain PST, transform the datetime in Power Query using DateTime.AddZone([TXN_DATE], -8) for standard time or adjust dynamically for DST. Use the DateTimeZone type to prevent further adjustments. Ensure visuals explicitly use the transformed column to retain consistency between Desktop and Service.