The system must be large enough to meet the building's annual electricity usage. 

Most often, when this is discussed, it is suggested that using a line of credit - HELOC or otherwise - to receive your regular payroll deposits is the favored usage.

Make sure you have smoke and CO detectors in appropriate places, GFCI outlets near water, functioning mechanicals, make sure everything is in good condition and you shouldn't have a problem.

The water department told them that they were seeing continuous usage—AKA a leak.

And it rewards “time of use” power usage.

This is actually something I see as a benefit because it shows that the city is interested in facilitating the growth of that industry, and it's much less likely now that they would do a 180 and try to limit usage

Most of these scammers are overseas and not English speakers, and you can tell by their grammar and word usage, or they use very short sentences so they don't have to say much.

Here’s what I do with my rentals:I either have tenants split the utility bills or include a clause in the lease that states if the gas or water bill exceeds a specific amount ($X), the tenant will be responsible for the overage, provided there are no leaks or other infrastructure issues contributing to the high usage.To determine this $X amount:Water: I take the highest water bill I’ve had over the past year (excluding periods where leaks occurred) and add about $15 to account for small fluctuations or potential increases.Gas: For gas, I calculate the median bill during the winter (when usage is highest) and the median bill in the summer (when usage is typically lowest).

Your recourse here is to A) talk with the bank and see if an agreement can be reached, B) refi out of the current loan into a new loan for investment property usage, or C) sue the lender and see what happens.

Down side, your 2nd usage of a VA mortgage will run you 3.3% on the VA Funding fee (but it is financed into the loan), unless you get any disability from VA.