14. The method of claim 12 , wherein retrieving data relevant to the analytics engines from the storage units comprises: for each analytics engine, storing metadata at an interface, wherein the metadata identifies the storage unit assigned to the analytics engine to retrieve data for the analytics engine; using the metadata to identify the storage unit assigned to the analytics engine; and retrieving, by the interface, the data relevant to the analytics engine from the identified storage unit.
12. A method of extracting data from a plurality of data sources by data extraction modules and performing analytics by analytics engines on data captured from the plurality of data sources and using the analytics to invoke application processing by applications associated with the analytics engines, the method comprising: assigning each of the data extraction modules to a particular one of the analytics engines and an associated application for the analytics engine; assigning each of a plurality of storage units to a particular one of the analytics engines and an associated application, wherein data stored in a storage unit is segregated from data store in any of the other plurality of storage units; extracting, by each of the data extraction modules executed by a processor, data from at least one of the plurality of data sources; storing the data in the storage unit for the analytics engine and the associated application assigned to the data extraction module; modifying, by each of the data extraction modules, the data according to translation intelligence rules, wherein the modifying includes re-formatting and filtering the data from the data sources prior to storing the data in the storage units in accordance with the translation intelligence rules, and the filtering includes: receiving, from the assigned analytics engine or the associated application, a query for a data set conforming to constraints in the query; running the query on data from the at least one data source to identify query results from the data; and prior to storing the query results in the corresponding storage unit, re-formatting the query results according to the translation rules; storing, by each of the data extraction modules, the modified data, including the re-formatted query results, in the corresponding storage unit; retrieving data relevant to analytics engines from the storage units; and executing the analytics engines to perform the analytics on the retrieved data, wherein the analytics engines comprise a utility plant performance analytics engine, an interface for the utility plant performance analytics engine, and a utility plant performance application, wherein the interface retrieves data from a predetermined storage unit and provides the data to the utility plant performance analytics engine, the utility plant performance analytics engine estimates a utility plant metric for a future time period based on the data, and the utility plant performance application uses the estimated metric to schedule maintenance for the utility plant, wherein the data comprises maintenance logs for the utility plant, manufacturers' recommended maintenance instructions, and maintenance logs for other utility plants, and the utility plant performance analytics engine estimates when maintenance is due for the utility plant based on the data, and the utility plant performance application provides notification to the client of the estimates for maintenance, and wherein extracting the data includes determining whether same or similar data is available from more than one of the plurality of data sources, and in response to determining that the same or similar data is available from more than one of the plurality of data sources, receiving the data from at least some of the plurality of data sources according to an order of the plurality of data sources specified in a prioritized list of the plurality of data sources.