Power BI data sources

Syndicate_Admin For 1. Installing and using the on-premises data gateway itself does not incur additional costs beyond what is already covered by your Power BI and M365 licenses. However, there could be indirect costs associated with the resources needed to manage and maintain the gateway, such as IT support and infrastructure.

Yes, there are other ways to connect your data from SharePoint to Power BI Service without using the on-premises data gateway. One common method is to use the SharePoint Online connector in Power BI. Here’s how you can do it:

Open Power BI Desktop.
Click on "Get Data" and select "SharePoint Online List" or "SharePoint Folder" depending on where your Excel file is stored.
Enter the URL of your SharePoint site and authenticate with your credentials.
Select the list or file you want to import and load it into Power BI Desktop.
Once you have your data in Power BI Desktop, you can publish the report to Power BI Service.
In Power BI Service, you can schedule refreshes directly from the dataset settings without needing the on-premises data gateway, as long as the data source is SharePoint Online.

Hi Syndicate_Admin 

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.
 

We understand you’re trying to connect an Excel sheet stored in SharePoint Online to Power BI Service, schedule automatic dashboard updates, and are encountering a prompt requiring an on-premises data gateway.

1. Can installing this gateway incur additional costs?

The on-premises data gateway is free to download,If you have a Power BI Pro license (included in Microsoft 365 E5 or available for $10/user/month), you can use the on-premises data gateway for free. If you already have Microsoft 365 E5, you likely have Power BI Pro, so no extra costs.

While there might be IT costs to maintain the gateway as mentioned by bhanu_gautam , you don't need it for connecting Power BI Service to Excel files in SharePoint Online. Power BI Service can connect directly to SharePoint Online without a gateway.

2. Is there any other way to connect my data from SharePoint to Power BI Service?

Yes, you can connect your SharePoint Online Excel sheet to Power BI Service without a gateway using the SharePoint Online Folder connector.

For Excel files in a SharePoint document library, SharePoint Online Folder is the correct connector . This can be achieved by using dataflows. Consider the following steps:

In Power BI Service, Navigate your workspace > Create > Dataflow.

Select SharePoint Online Folder, enter the root SharePoint site URL, and authenticate with OAuth2.

Choose the Excel file and table, then save the dataflow.

In Power BI Desktop, connect to the dataflow (Get Data > Power BI Dataflows), build your report, and publish.

Schedule the dataflow to refresh daily in Power BI Service. The dataset will use the dataflow as its source, requiring no gateway.

If this response resolves your query, kindly mark it as Accepted Solution to help other community members. A Kudos is also appreciated if you found the response helpful.
 

Thank You!