Utility Submetering

1/15/2016

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Megan Cleveland: LEGISLATORS AND STAFF ONLY

meter Note: The information on this page is for reference by state legislators and legislative staff. If you are a homeowner, landlord or tenant with questions about submetering in your area, please contact your state department or public utility commission department of consumer protection.

Utility submetering is the implementation of meter systems that allows the operator of a multi-unit property to bill each unit for individual utility usage through the installation of additional meters behind a utility meter.

Submetering can be managed by a third-party entity that does not produce electricity, gas or water but resells utilities to the customers behind the utility meter. Utility submetering can also be the installation of an additional meter on the customer side of a utility meter to obtain data about a specific end use or uses inside a facility. Utilities may install these meters on specific appliances as part of utility-managed interruptible service rates or demand response. Submetering differs from master-metering, where a landlord purchases energy at a commercial customer rate and then sub-meters electricity to tenants at a residential or smaller commercial rate.

Twenty-two states, three counties and Washington, D.C., have statutes, regulations, or rulings on utility submetering, as shown in the table below. Several local ordinances are also included in the chart below. While state approaches to utility submetering vary, polices may establish provisions for acceptable uses of submetering in properties, create a mechanism for determining customers charges, and determine if building owners may charge customers additional fees.

Several states, including Alabama, Arizona, California and Texas, have separate provisions for submetering water versus electricity. At least three states—Alabama, Connecticut and Maryland—require a utility commission’s approval for specific components of submetering policy. Submetering policies determine if pricing is calculated volumetrically or formulaically while one state requires pricing to be “equitable” to customers.

Policies also address additional fees and service charges by utilities and building operators, including formula-based fees or service charges, device fees; flat service charges; and other “reasonable” fees or charges. Additionally states may prohibit additional fees and service charges. Statutes also address submetering versus mastermetering policies in specific circumstances. A number of policies address fees for late payments separately than other fees and charges. An Oklahoma regulation authorizes submetering if the intent is energy conservation.

Note: The information on this page is for reference by state legislators and legislative staff. If you are a homeowner, landlord or tenant with questions about submetering in your area, please contact your state department or public utility commission department of consumer protection.

CHART: State Submetering Policies

The box allows you to conduct a full text search or use the dropdown menu option to select a state.

STATE	SUBMETERING POLICY
Alabama	Rule W-13 of the Water Rules of the Alabama Public Service Commission generally requires all water sold by a utility with 100 or more customers to be based on metered volume sales. The rule allows utilities to provide flat rate or estimated service for temporary service where the water use can be readily estimated; public and private fire protection. Water used for street sprinkling and sewer flushing under certain circumstances; and other flat rate service arrangement that must be approved by the commission.
Arizona	The Arizona Corporation Commission's Rules on Water requires all water delivered by a regulated water utility to be billed on the basis of metered volume sales. Arizona's regulations allow the utility to provide a fixed charge schedule for temporary service where water use can be readily estimated; public and private fire protection; water used for street sprinkling and sewer flushing under certain circumstances; and other fixed charge schedules approved by the commission (Ariz. Admin. Code, title 14, art. 4 §R14-2-408).
	A landlord may charge separately for gas, water, wastewater, solid waste removal or electricity by installing a submetering system or by allocating the charges separately through a ratio utility billing system. If a landlord charges separately for a utility, the landlord may recover the charges imposed on the landlord by the utility provider plus an administrative fee for the landlord for actual administrative costs only. The landlord shall not impose any additional charges. The rental agreement shall contain a disclosure that lists the utility services that are charged separately and shall specify the amount of any administrative fee that is associated with submetering or the use of a ratio utility billing system (Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §33-1314.01).
	The landlord may charge an administrative fee for the landlord’s actual administrative costs. Any monthly administrative fee shall not exceed the greater of the landlord’s actual administrative costs or 10 percent of the monthly charges by the utility provider in the aggregate to the landlord. The landlord shall not impose any other additional charges. If the landlord arranges for utility billings to be handled by a third party, the utility billings shall instead include the actual and reasonable cost charged by the third party for the service. Those third party charges shall not exceed ten per cent of the monthly charges by the utility provider for that utility in the aggregate to the landlord. For the purposes of this paragraph, “administrative costs” includes the direct actual costs to the landlord of billing for utilities, including the cost of staff time to calculate and mail the bills, postage and stationery (Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §33-2107).
California	California law has generally required utility water meters for all new water service connections installed since 1992. In 2004, the state expanded this requirement to pre-existing connections by requiring all urban water suppliers (public or private water companies serving at least 3,000 customers) to install utility water meters on all of their water service connections. The suppliers that receive water from the federal Central Valley Project had to meet this requirement by Jan. 1, 2013 and begin charging their customers based on the actual volume of water delivered by March 1, 2013. Other urban water suppliers must install utility meters on all of their service connections by Jan.1, 2025. Starting Jan. 1, 2010, their charges for any customer with a metered connection must be based on the actual volume of water delivered, as measured by the water meter. The law allows the water companies to recover their related costs through rates, fees, or charges (Cal. Water Code, §525 through 527).
	Where the management provides both master-meter and submeter service of utilities to a homeowner, for each billing period the cost of the charges for the period shall be separately stated along with the opening and closing readings for his or her meter. The management shall post, in a conspicuous place, the specific current residential utility rate schedule as published by the serving utility or the Internet Web site address of the specific current residential utility rate schedule. If the management elects to post the Internet Web site address where the schedule may be accessed, the management shall also: (1) provide a copy of the specific current residential utility rate schedule, upon request, at no cost; and (2) state in the posting that a homeowner may request a copy of the rate schedule from management. (b) If a third-party billing agent or company prepares utility billing for the park, the management shall disclose on each resident's billing, the name, address, and telephone number of the billing agent or company (Cal. Civil Code §798.40).
	The commission shall require that, whenever gas or electric service, or both, is provided by a master-meter customer to users who are tenants of a mobilehome park, apartment building or similar residential complex, the master-meter customer shall charge each user of the service at the same rate that would be applicable if the user were receiving gas or electricity, or both, directly from the gas or electrical corporation. The commission shall require the corporation furnishing service to the master-meter customer to establish uniform rates for master-meter service at a level that will provide a sufficient differential to cover the reasonable average costs to master-meter customers of providing submeter service, except that these costs shall not exceed the average cost that the corporation would have incurred in providing comparable services directly to the users of the service (Cal. Public Utilities Code §739.5).
	For marinas, mobilehome parks, recreational vehicle parks, and apartment complexes, where the owner of the marina, park, or complex owns and is responsible for the utility meters, the device fee shall not exceed the following: for water submeters, two dollars ($2) per device per space or apartment; for electric submeters, three dollars ($3) per device per space or apartment; and for vapor submeters, four dollars ($4) per device per space or apartment (Cal. Business and Professions Code §12240).
	San Diego, CA enacted an ordinance in 2010 that requires sub-meters to be installed in every new multi-unit building with at least three residential units and an existing multi-unit building with at least three residential units, whenever the entire potable water supply piping is being replaced. It exempts existing multi-unit buildings with individual units that are served by more than one cold water riser and one hot water riser system. The ordinance also regulates sub-metered billing by requiring monthly or bi-monthly billing; requiring fixed charges to be allocated equally among units; requiring variable charges to be charged at the same rate as in the water utility's bill; allowing an administrative fee up to $4 per month; allowing a late fee up to $10 per billing cycle; and setting bill content and notification requirements.
Connecticut	Connecticut does not require that utility meters or sub-meters be installed for each unit of a multi-unit building. Submetering is permitted only with the approval of the commission (Conn. Reg. State Agencies §16-11-55).
Delaware	Under Delaware law, landlords who did not install separate submeters for their commercial tenants were regulated under statute prohibiting electricity profiteering where fluctuating utility payments were part of the rent and in light of related federal regulation policy (Del. Code Ann. tit. 25 §5114).
Florida	Where individual metering is not required and master metering is used in lieu thereof, reasonable apportionment methods, including submetering may be used by the customer of record or the owner of such facility solely for the purpose of allocating the cost of the electricity billed by the utility. The term “cost” as used herein means only those charges specifically authorized by the electric utility's tariff, including but not limited to the customer, energy, demand, fuel, conservation, capacity and environmental charges made by the electric utility plus applicable taxes and fees to the customer of record responsible for the master meter payments. The term does not include late payment charges, returned check charges, the cost of the customer-owned distribution system behind the master meter, the customer of record's cost of billing the individual units, and other such costs. Any fees or charges collected by a customer of record for electricity billed to the customer's account by the utility, whether based on the use of submetering or any other allocation method, shall be determined in a manner which reimburses the customer of record for no more than the customer's actual cost of electricity. Each utility shall develop a standard policy governing the provisions of submetering as provided for herein. Such policy shall be filed by each utility as part of its tariffs. The policy shall have uniform application and shall be nondiscriminatory (Fla. Administrative Code §25-6.049).
Georgia	Georgia's 2010 Water Stewardship Act requires submetering of each new multi-unit residential building and certain retail and light industrial buildings granted a construction permit after July 1, 2012. Tenants in these new buildings must be charged for water and wastewater use based on their measured usage. The act also encourages, but does not require the installation of sub-meters in existing multi-unit buildings and for any office components of newly constructed multi-unit buildings. The act also allows an affected building's owner to seek reimbursement from tenants for common area water usage through an allocation based formula; allows the owner to charge a reasonable fee for establishing, servicing, and billing the tenant's water service; allows water companies to charge for sub-meter installations; relieves owners from liability that results from billing or meter-reading errors by an unaffiliated third-party; and allows the requirement to be temporarily waived under certain circumstances.
Georgia	DeKalb County, GA, which provides public water service, enacted an ordinance in 2008 that requires sub-meters for any water supplied to a multi-unit residential building built after June 1, 2008. It allows multi-unit property owners or landlords to use the sub-meters to bill each tenant for their actual water use. It also requires water meters for any single family residence or condominium built after July 1, 2008.
Indiana	Submetering equipment may be installed in individual units of rented or leased units in a building or in individuals units of a building exempt from commission rules on master metering to fairly allocate the cost of each individual unit’s electrical consumption. Tenants may be billed for the total number of kilowatt hours consumed by the tenant during a particular billing period; multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the total electric bill for a master meter, and the denominator of which is the total kilowatt hours consumed on a master meter. The total electric bill for a master meter, in addition to the rate per kilowatt hour, includes any sales tax, demand charges, energy component charges, and any other taxes or charges that are lawfully applied to the bill. The owner, operator, or manager of a building or buildings served by a master meter may not impose on the tenant any extra charges over and above the total electric bill for a master meter (which includes the rate per kilowatt hour and any lawful taxes or charges, but does not include a late payment charge) for a particular billing period than is charged to the owner, operator, or manager of a building or buildings served by a master meter (Ind. Code §8-1-2-36.5).
Maine	A campground owner or operator may submeter electric service to campground sites within the campground in accordance with this section, as long as electric service is not provided to any particular submeter user for a period greater than 6 consecutive months. A campground owner or operator may charge a submeter user only for kilowatt hours used by that submeter user. The charge that a campground owner or operator may charge a submeter user for electric service may not exceed the kilowatt usage of the submeter user multiplied by the combined rate per kilowatt hour that the campground owner or operator is charged by the transmission and distribution utility and competitive electricity provider (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 35A §313).
Maine	Authorizes electric vehicle charging station providers to install electric submeters and only to charge a submeter for kilowatt-hours used (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 35A §313-A).
Maryland	“Submetering” means the installation of equipment to determine the actual use of gas or electricity for each residential unit in an apartment house or commercial rental unit in an office building or shopping center. An apartment house, office building, or shopping center that contains a combination of dwelling units or commercial rental units is included under the requirements of this section. With the approval of the Commission, a local housing authority established under Division II of the Housing and Community Development Article may sub-meter any combination of apartment houses, commercial rental units, dwelling units, office buildings, and shopping centers. The Commission shall adopt regulations to establish standards to allocate fairly the cost of each unit’s gas or electrical consumption. An owner, operator, or manager of an apartment house, office building, or shopping center who installs submetering equipment under this section to provide bulk metered service may not impose on a unit in the facility any utility cost except the charges that the Commission authorizes and that the gas company or electric company actually imposes on the owner, operator, or manager. The charges imposed shall be allocated among the units in proportion to the actual usage of cubic feet or kilowatt hours by the unit. The owner, operator, or manager of an apartment house, office building, or shopping center may collect an additional service charge not exceeding $1 per unit per month to cover administrative costs and billing. If the owner, operator, or manager of an apartment house, office building, or shopping center installs sub-meters during the term of a lease or agreement that includes the cost of gas or electricity consumed for the unit, the owner, operator, or manager shall determine the amount of gas or electric costs saved by that unit; and pass that amount on to the unit’s occupant as a payment or reduction in rent. The owner, operator, or manager of an apartment house, office building, or shopping center may not be considered a public service company; and may use metering equipment only to allocate fairly the costs of gas or electric service among the occupants of the apartment house, office building, or shopping center (Md. Public Utilities Code §7-303).
Maryland	The Commission may authorize the use of a master meter in a residential multiple occupancy building for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services without requiring individual metering or submetering for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services if: the utility bill for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services for each individually leased or owned occupancy unit is included in the rent for that unit; the Commission is satisfied that the use of the master meter for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services will result in a net savings of energy over the energy savings that would result from individual metering or submetering for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services; and each individually leased or owned occupancy unit has individual metered service for other energy services and directly receives the utility bill for the other energy services (Md. Public Utilities Code Ann. §7-304.1).
Massachusetts	A landlord may cause to be installed by a plumber licensed in the commonwealth, at the expense of such landlord, submetering equipment in the landlord’s building to measure the quantity of water provided for the exclusive use of each dwelling unit, provided that such equipment meets the standards of accuracy and testing of the American Water Works Association or a similar accredited association; and provided further, that a sub-meter is installed for each dwelling unit in the building and for the common areas of the building, so that all water used in a building is measured by both a primary meter and a sub-meter. All provisions of this section allowing landlords to charge tenants for water usage shall also be deemed to apply to sewer service charges calculated by means of the same primary meter or sub-meter. A landlord may not charge the tenant of a dwelling unit separately for water usage measured by a submeter, nor allow such tenant to be so charged, unless the submeter measures only water that is supplied for the exclusive use of the particular dwelling unit and only to an area within the exclusive possession and control of the tenant of such dwelling unit and does not measure any water usage for any portion of the common areas or by any other party or dwelling unit; provided further, that a landlord shall not charge such tenant for water supplied through a submeter to the dwelling unit prior to the landlord installing fully functional water conservation devices for all faucets, showerheads and water closets in the dwelling unit; and provided further, that the landlord shall ensure that such water conservation devices are installed and functioning properly at the commencement of each subsequent tenancy in such dwelling unit. A landlord shall determine a calculated cost per unit of water consumption by dividing the total amount of any bill or invoice provided to the landlord from the water company for water usage, the customer service charge and taxes, but not including any interest for the late payment, penalty fees or other discretionary assessments or charges, for all water provided to the premises through the water company meter in that billing period, by the total amount of water consumption for the entire premises. The total amount charged separately to each submetered dwelling unit for water usage for any billing period shall not exceed such calculated cost per unit of water multiplied by the number of units of water delivered exclusively to the particular dwelling unit for the same billing period, provided that the landlord has verified that the total amounts of water usage measured by all submeters in the building, including all submeters for common areas, does not exceed the total amount of water usage in the building for the same billing period as shown on such bill or invoice. A landlord shall not charge or recover, or allow to be charged or recovered, any additional servicing, administrative, establishment, meter-reading, meter-testing, billing, or submetering fee or other fee whatsoever, however denominated. In the event of nonpayment of a bill to a water company by the landlord, such water company shall have all the remedies against the customer of the water company available pursuant to any law, rule or regulation. A landlord may not shut off or refuse water service to a tenant on the basis that the tenant has not paid a separately assessed submetered water usage charge. (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186 §22).
Minnesota	A public utility and the Public Service Commission cannot limit the availability of submetering to a building occupant when the building is served by a public utility’s master meter which measures the total electric energy delivered to the building (Minn. Stat. §216B.022).
Mississippi	An apartment house owner, manufactured home community owner or condominium manager may provide for submetering of each dwelling unit or rental unit for the measurement of the quantity of water consumed by the occupants of the unit. If submetering is utilized, tenants may be charged separately for water and wastewater services on a pass through allocated basis for charges incurred by the customer. The charges for a tenant may not exceed the tenant's pro rata share of all water and wastewater services used by all of the tenants in that apartment house, manufactured home community or condominium. Any apartment house owner, manufactured home community owner or condominium manager utilizing submetering pursuant to this section shall disclose the submetering to each tenant and obtain from the tenant an acknowledgment of the submetering in a written document. Submeters installed pursuant to this section must meet the American Water Works Association standards for accuracy. In rendering charges to tenants pursuant to this section, the customer shall provide: beginning and ending meter reads; a statement that the bill is not from the public utility; and a telephone number for tenant inquiries on the bill. Water and wastewater services utilized by the tenant may not be disconnected for nonpayment of submetered bills (Miss. Code. Ann. §77-3-97).
New Jersey	The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities authorizes submetering for industrial or commercial buildings; publically financed and government-owned buildings; cooperative housing or condominiums; and charitable institutions. In 2005, the Board issued a five-year pilot program for residential submetering of electricity and gas. Residential buildings constructed after August 8, 2011 must install submeters (N.J. Board of Public Utilities Decision, Docket No. WO11060381).
New York	Authorizes residential electric submetering and determines the Public Service Commission holds authority over submetering. Authorizes landlords to charge residents up to, but not more than, the direct metered utility rate for electricity. Establishes different provisions for master metered, rent stabilized or controlled buildings converting from rent inclusion to submetering and for new construction and market rate buildings (N.Y. Public Service Law §§4, 53, 65 and 66).
	Where the conversion is to submetering of electricity, with the tenant purchasing electricity from the owner or a contractor retained by the owner, who purchases electricity from a utility at the bulk rate, such schedule of rent reductions is based on the median monthly cost of electricity to tenants derived from data from the United States Census Bureau’s 2002 New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, as tabulated by the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, 51 Chambers Street, Suite 202, New York, N.Y., and available on its website at www.housingnyc.com, adjusted to reflect the bulk rate for electricity plus a reasonable service fee for the cost of meter reading and billing, based on the maximum estimated fee included in the Residential Electric Submetering Manual revised October 2001, published by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, 17 Columbia Circle, Albany, NY, and available on its website at www.nyserda.org, and reflected in Operational Bulletin 2003-1. The owner or contractor retained by the owner is not permitted to charge the tenant more than the bulk rate for electricity plus a reasonable service charge for the cost of meter reading and billing. The charge for electricity as well as any related service surcharge is not part of the maximum rent and not subject to this Subchapter. The resolution of any dispute arising from the billing or collection of such charge or surcharge is not within the jurisdiction of the city rent agency. A conversion to submetering does not require rewiring the building provided the owner submits an affidavit sworn to by a licensed electrician that the existing wiring is safe and of sufficient capacity for the building. Every three years, upon the publication of new housing vacancy survey, and tabulation of the survey data by the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, DHCR shall issue a new operational bulletin governing electrical conversions setting forth rent reductions based on the new survey data, and shall move to amend the regulations to incorporate by reference the new Operational Bulletin Housing Vacancy Survey, and Rent Guidelines Board Tabulation. At such time as New York State Energy Research and Development Authority issues a new residential electric submetering manual setting forth a new maximum estimated submetering service fee. DHCR shall move to amend the regulations to incorporate that document by reference (N.Y. Rent and Evictions Law §2202.16).
	Owners acting as a provider of a utility service (including, but not limited to electricity, gas, cable or telecommunications), may collect surcharges which shall not be part of the legal regulated rent (N.Y. Rent and Evictions Law §2202.27).
North Carolina	Each individual dwelling unit shall have individual electric service with a separate electric meter and, if it has natural gas, individual natural gas service with a separate natural gas meter, which service and meters shall be in the name of the tenant or other occupant of said apartment or other dwelling unit. No electric supplier or natural gas supplier, whether regulated public utility or municipal corporation or electric membership corporation supplying said utility service, shall connect any residential building for electric service or natural gas service through a master meter (N.C. Gen. Stat. §143-151.42)
North Carolina	Boone, North Carolina, which operates a municipal water system, has a local ordinance that requires all new multi-unit developments and buildings with major renovations to have individual water utility meters for each unit. These meters would allow each metered unit to be billed directly by the municipal water system.
North Dakota	Electric service furnished by a public utility under established rate schedules shall not be resold or submetered by a customer unless the rate schedule under which the customer receives service specifically so provides (N.D. Administrative Code §69-09-02-15).
Oklahoma	Residences, apartment complexes, or similar residential units and multicommercial unit complexes may be or may continue to be served with a single utility meter and consumer submeter system, if such measuring of electrical service is deemed to: encourage conservation of energy; contribute to the efficient use of facilities and resources of electric utilities; and results in equitable rates to the electrical consumers affected by such meters (Okla. Administrative Code §165:35-13-7).
Oregon	Subject to the policies of the utility or service provider, a landlord may, except as provided in subsections (2) to (5) of this section, provide for utilities or services to tenants by one or more of the following billing methods: (a) A relationship between the tenant and the utility or service provider in which: (A) The provider provides the utility or service directly to the tenant's space, including any utility or service line, and bills the tenant directly; and (B) The landlord does not act as a provider. (b) A relationship between the landlord, tenant and utility or service provider in which: (A) The provider provides the utility or service to the landlord; (B) The landlord provides the utility or service directly to the tenant's space or to a common area available to the tenant as part of the tenancy; and (C) The landlord: (i) Includes the cost of the utility or service in the tenant's rent; or (ii) Bills the tenant for a utility or service charge separately from the rent in an amount determined by apportioning on a pro rata basis the provider's charge to the landlord as measured by a master meter. (c) A relationship between the landlord, tenant and utility or service provider in which: (A) The provider provides the utility or service to the landlord; (B) The landlord provides the utility or service directly to the tenant's space; and (C) The landlord uses a submeter to measure the utility or service actually provided to the space and bills the tenant for a utility or service charge for the amount provided (Or. Rev. Stat. §90-532).
Oregon	If a written rental agreement so provides, a landlord using the submeter billing method described in ORS 90.532 (1)(c) may require a tenant to pay to the landlord a utility or service charge that has been billed by a utility or service provider to the landlord for utility or service provided directly to the tenant's space as measured by a submeter. A utility or service charge to be assessed to a tenant under this section may consist of (a) The cost of the utility or service provided to the tenant's space and under the tenant's control, as measured by the submeter, at a rate no greater than the average rate billed to the landlord by the utility or service provider, not including any base or service charge; (b) The cost of any sewer service for wastewater as a percentage of the tenant's water charge as measured by a submeter, if the utility or service provider charges the landlord for sewer service as a percentage of water provided; (c) A pro rata portion of the cost of sewer service for storm water and wastewater if the utility or service provider does not charge the landlord for sewer service as a percentage of water provided; (d) A pro rata portion of costs to provide a utility or service to a common area; (e) A pro rata portion of any base or service charge billed to the landlord by the utility or service provider, including but not limited to any tax passed through by the provider; and (f) A pro rata portion of the cost to read water meters and to bill tenants for water if third party service reads the meters and bills tenants for the landlord; and the landlord allows the tenants to inspect the third party's billing records. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the landlord may not bill or collect more money from tenants for utilities or services than the utility or service provider charges the landlord. A utility or service charge to be assessed to a tenant under this section may not include any additional charge, including any costs of the landlord, for the installation or maintenance of the utility or service system or any profit for the landlord (Or. Rev. Stat. §90-536).
Texas	A political subdivision may not authorize the construction or occupancy of a new apartment house, including the conversion of property to a condominium, unless the construction plan provides for the measurement of the quantity of electricity consumed by the occupants of each dwelling unit of the apartment house, either by individual metering by the utility company or by submetering by the owner. This section does not prohibit a political subdivision from issuing a permit to a nonprofit organization for construction of a new apartment house for occupancy by low-income elderly tenants if the nonprofit organization establishes, by submitting engineering and cost data and a sworn statement, that all cost savings will be passed on to the low-income elderly tenants (Tex. Utilities Code Ann. §184.012).
Texas	The Texas Water Code requires each unit in a building with five or more residential units built after Jan. 1, 2003 to have either an individual water utility meter or sub-meter. If feasible, it requires water companies to install individual meters in such buildings at the building owner's request. The water company can charge reasonable costs for installing the meters. If the water company determines that installing these meters is not feasible, the law requires the property owner to install a plumbing system compatible with sub-meters. For submetering multi-unit property owners, the state's water code limits submetering charges on tenants to the cost per gallon and applicable taxes and surcharges charged by the water company; a late fee up to five percent of the late bill; and a service charge of up to nine percent of the costs related to submetering allocated to each sub-metered unit. The code also requires the property owners to maintain adequate records and make them available to tenants and sub-meters to meet certain standards for accuracy, testing, and record keeping (Texas Water Code §13.501 through 13.506).
Virginia	Energy submetering equipment, energy allocation equipment, water and sewer submetering equipment, or a ratio utility billing system may be used in a commercial or residential building, manufactured home park, or campground if clearly stated in the rental agreement or lease for the leased premises or dwelling unit. All energy submetering equipment and energy allocation equipment shall meet the requirements and standards established and enforced by the State Corporation Commission. If energy submetering equipment, water and sewer submetering equipment, or energy allocation equipment is used in any building, manufactured home park, or campground, the owner, manager, or operator of the building, manufactured home park, or campground shall bill the tenant for electricity, natural gas or water and sewer for the same billing period as the utility serving the building or campground, unless the rental agreement or lease expressly provides otherwise. The owner, manager, or operator of the building, manufactured home park, or campground may charge and collect from the tenant additional service charges, including, but not limited to, monthly billing fees, account set-up fees or account move-out fees, to cover the actual costs of administrative expenses and billing charged to the building, manufactured home park, or campground owner, manager, or operator by a third-party provider of such services, provided that such charges are agreed to by the building or campground owner and the tenant in the rental agreement or lease. The building or campground owner may require the tenant to pay a late charge of up to $5 if the tenant fails to make payment when due, which shall not be less than 15 days following the date of mailing or delivery of the bill sent pursuant to this section. (Va. Code §55-226.2).
Virginia	Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the Commission shall promulgate regulations and standards under which any owner, operator, or manager of an apartment house, office building, shopping center, or campground, which is not individually metered for electricity or gas for each dwelling unit, nonresidential rental unit, or campsite may install submetering equipment or energy allocation equipment for the purpose of fairly allocating (a) the cost of electrical or gas consumption for each dwelling unit, nonresidential rental unit, or campsite and (b) electrical or gas demand and customer charges made by the utility. In addition to other appropriate safeguards for the tenant, the regulations shall require (i) that an apartment house, office building, shopping center, or campground owner shall not impose on the tenant any charges, over and above the cost per kilowatt hour, cubic foot or therm, plus demand and customer charges, where applicable, which are charged by the utility company to the owner, including any sales, local utility, or other taxes, if any, except that additional service charges permitted by §55-226.2 may be collected to cover administrative costs and billing, and (ii) that the apartment house, office building, shopping center, or campground owner shall maintain adequate records regarding submetering and energy allocation equipment and shall make such records available for inspection by the Commission during reasonable business hours. The provisions of this section shall not restrict the right of the owner, operator or manager to recover in periodic lease payments the tenant's fair share of electricity or gas costs attributable to owner-paid areas and costs incurred by the owner, operator or manager in establishing and maintaining the submetering or energy allocation equipment (Va. Code §56-245.2 through §56-245.3).
Vermont	A person operating a recreational campground may provide submetered electric service to campground users on a nonprofit basis, if such service is provided in accordance with rules adopted by the board, including rules relating to notice of rates and charges, accuracy of electrical submeters, and reasonable billing and complaint procedures (Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 30 §249a).
Washington	Enacted in 2003, Washington's Municipal Water Law requires all municipal water suppliers (public and private water utilities serving at least 15 residential connections) to have meters on all of their service connections by January 2017.
Washington, D.C.	The Commission shall promulgate rules, including standards, under which any owner, operator, or manager of a building which is not individually metered for electricity or gas for each nonresidential rental unit may install submetering equipment or energy allocation equipment for the purpose of fairly allocating: the cost of electrical or gas consumption for each nonresidential rental unit; and electrical or gas demand and customer charges made by the utility and electricity and natural gas supplier. A late payment charge shall not be imposed on all amounts, including deferred payment installments, paid by the due date or on amounts in dispute before the Commission. Amounts paid after the due date shall bear a late payment charge of 1 percent, and an additional late payment charge at the rate of 1.5 percent on the remaining unpaid balance per billing month thereafter (District of Columbia Code §34-1552 through 34-1553).

Sources:

Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, 2013.
WestlawNext, 2016.