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Updated almost 9 years ago,
Does anybody add utility charges?
I have a large industrial building with a handful of different tenants. The building only has one incoming power meter from the utility, and then there are individual submeters for each tenant.
As a result of this, the single power bill I get is very large, and I get cheaper power because we are on an industrial rate schedule. The average small power consumer pays 11 cents per kilowatt in my area, but I only pay about 7.5 cents per kilowatt in bulk.
I charge the tenants what the power company would charge them based on their own usage. This results in me earning a few hundred bucks each month when I pay the electric bill. I'm also taking the risk that if a tenant does not pay, I still have to pay the electric company. (and I have been left with a big bill before)
I'm curious if anybody does anything like this in a residential setting? I am interested in buying an apartment building, and I'm thinking the same method should work there. In my industrial building the only utility is power, no gas or water (on a well), but I'm looking at an apartment building with 7 gas, power, and water meters. I could potentially submeter all 3 utilities.
I've never owned or lived in an apartment before. How is power billing usually taken care of? Is it most common for each unit just to have it's own meter and pay the utility directly?