Utility submeter

Utility Submetering is the implementation of a system that allows a landlord, property management firm, condominium association, homeowners association, or other multi-tenant property to bill tenants for individual measured utility usage. The approach makes use of individual water meters, gas meters, or electricity meters per the relevant utility.

Overview

Typical users of submetering are mobile home parks, apartment complexes, and commercial buildings. Usually, utility submetering is placed in situations where the local utility cannot or will not individually meter the utility in question. Municipal Utility companies are often reluctant to take on metering individual spaces for several reasons. One reason is that rental space tenants tend to be more transient and are more difficult to collect from. By billing only the owner, they can place liens on real property if not paid (as opposed to tenants they may not know exist or who have little to lose if they move without paying). Utilities also generally prefer not to have water meters beyond their easement (i.e., the property boundary), since leaks to a service line would be before the meter and could be of less concern to a property owner. Other reasons include difficulty in getting access to meters for reading, or electrical systems and plumbing not suitable for submetering.

Before submetering, many landlords either included the utility cost in the bulk price of the rent or lease, or divided the utility usage among the tenants in some way such as equally, by square footage, or some other means. Without a meter to measure individual usage, there is less incentive to conserve or stop water leaks, since the other tenants or landlord may pay all or part of those costs. Submetering creates awareness of water and Energy conservation since the tenant will pay for all of their usage and any leaks they allow to remain unrepaired. Conservation also allows property owners to keep the cost of rent reasonable and fair for all units regardless of how much water or energy they consume.

On the other hand, submetering provides an opportunity for building owners to shift their rising electricity costs to tenants who lack ownership or control over thermal efficiency of the structure, its insulation, windows, and major energy consuming appliances. Landlords may attempt to deem their charges for electric service as "additional rent" making tenants subject to eviction for nonpayment of electric bills, which would not be possible if they were direct customers of the utility. The Ontario Energy Board in August 2009 nullified all landlord submetering and allowed future submetering only upon informed tenant consent, including provision of third party energy audits to tenants to enable them to judge the total cost of rent plus electricity.

Submetering in today's energy conscious environment does not just mean submetering for tenant/departmental allocation. Submetering products and software are key tools for increasing efficiency and lowering energy consumption. "You can't manage what you don't monitor" is an old adage that applies to all types of energy consumption, including electric, water, gas and steam. The first step in effectively managing energy is to know exactly when, where and how much is being used. This data provides users with the data necessary to implement "green" building programs within their facility to lower usage & costs, meet government mandates and participate in green building programs such as LEED and green globes.

System design

A submetering system typically includes a "master meter", which is owned by the utility supplying the water, electricity, or gas, with overall usage billed directly to the property owner. The property owner or manager then places their own private meters on individual tenant spaces to determine individual usage levels and bill each tenant for their share. In some cases, the landlord might add the usage cost to the regular rent or lease bill. In other cases, a third party might read, bill, and possibly even collect for the service. Some of these companies also install and maintain meters and reading systems.

The latest trend in submetering is Automatic Meter Reading, or AMR. This technology is used to get from meter reading to billing by an automated electronic means. This can be by handheld computers that collect data using touch wands, walk or drive-by radio, fixed network systems where the meter has a transmitter or transceiver that sends the data to a central location, or transmission via Wi-Fi, cellular, or Internet connections.

Although not technically submetering, an alternate method of utility cost allocation called RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing Systems) is sometimes used to allocate costs to tenants when true submetering is not practical or not possible due to plumbing or wiring constraints. This method divides utility costs by square footage, number of occupants, or some other combination of cost ratios.

Submetering in the world

Submeters take many forms. For example, Central heating in apartment blocks in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland is sometimes submetered with liquid filled calibrated vials attached to each of the heating radiators. The metering company visits the apartments about once a year and reads the liquid level and replaces the vials. Some apartment owners have replaced the vials with electronic submeters that transmit temperature readings via radio to a master unit in each apartment. The master unit in turn transmits collated readings to the utility company, thereby saving both labour costs and inconvenience to both tenant and landlord. The master unit displays a number representing the current total of "heating value".

Submetering history and laws

The concept of submetering was effectively "invented" sometime in the 1920s, when many laws currently affecting submetering were written. However, submetering really did not take a hold in the property management world until the late 1980s, with the ever increasing costs associated with utilities and a more aware society of environmental conservation.

Utilities submetered

Natural Gas

Water - both cold and hot water

Electricity

HVAC (few companies offer this technology)

Cable television

Steam

See also

Automatic meter reading

Distributed generation

Feed-in Tariff

Flow measurement

Net metering

Smart meter

References

External links

NMHC Article - Water Submetering: A Regulatory Overview

EPA Memorandum - Submetering Water Systems

EPA website - Section on submetering

NSUAA - National Submetering & Utility Automation Association

Utilimetrics - Non-profit industry trade association for AMR and AMI

Category:Public utilities Category:Flow meters Category:Water supply