Sub-metering a small residential building

[Chris V.]

Hi All,

Hope this is the right place to ask; I am in the process of buying some additional property and one of the new properties is a Triplex that does not have individual meters for Gas/Electric/Water for each unit. The previous (I guess technically current:)) owner was charging a flat fee but it was ridiculously low compared with the real usage. 

All my other units pay there own utilities and I really like that setup. So I am thinking of sub-metering the units as that will be a great opportunity to lower my expenses which is easier than raising the rent and I was hoping anyone had some experience with sub-metering a small building like a triplex. 

Like how does that even work, who bills the tenants etc. I googled around a bit and found some companies that offer services, but it sounds like they are geared towards bigger apartment complexes. 

I would even pay PG&E and the city to come and actually re-meter the units (so i dont have to sub-meter) but I checked their websites and it does not sound like they even do that. Which is strange because you'd think that they would like to increase their number of customers...:)

Anyway, very curious to hear other's experiences with Sub metering small residential! (bonus if this experience was in California:)

Thanks!

Chris