Submetering Electric in a Nonconforming Unit

[Art Maydan]

Hey everyone,

I manage a 7-unit building with a nonconforming basement unit pulling power from the common/basement meter. The owner would like to get the tenants to pay their own electric. I had two electricians take a look and they say ComEd does mandatory inspections now before adding a meter and would make us upgrade our current 200amp service if we try pulling a permit for a new meter. They're saying it would be $10K-$30K for all the work involved. And then there's the issue of the unit itself being nonconforming. It obviously doesn't make sense at that point and I'd just advise the landlord to bump rent if it's a big deal. Although I would personally just leave it alone as we're already at market and nobody reads the listing text.

I remember hearing about some third-party submetering providers on the BP podcast years ago. Anyone have experience with these? Any other options I'm not considering?

Thanks a lot,
Artem