Individual Meters vs Master Meters

Utility companies provide electricity, natural gas, and water to homes. They use meters to measure how much each home uses.

  • Direct Meters: These meters measure how much electricity, gas, or water is used in a single home or apartment. The person who lives in the home must have an account with the utility company. The company reads the meter, calculates how much was used, and sends a bill. This way, the person can keep track of how much they are using and contact the utility company if something seems wrong.
     
  • Master Meters: In some places, like apartments, condominiums, or mobile home parks, a single meter measures how much electricity, gas, or water is used for the whole property. The property owner or manager gets the bill for the whole property and then decides how to divide the cost among the residents. However, residents don’t know exactly how much they use. Sometimes the owner splits the total cost evenly among all the apartments, or they may charge based on the size of the apartment. This system doesn’t help residents track their own usage or save on energy. Based on a survey commissioned by the Maryland Public Service Commission, in 2018 there were 840 electric master meter accounts and 3,393 natural gas accounts identified.

 

The master meter owner/manager typically calculates the amount to charge each dwelling in one of three ways, often referred to as R.U.B.S. (Ratio Utility Billing System):

  1. The yearly charges are rolled into the individual lease/condominium fee amount. This requires the owner/manager to forecast utility costs for the life of the lease, or make specific periodic assessments to cover utility costs. Renters/owners are not able to analyze or plan for such increases.
  2. The owner/manager takes the total utility charge and divides the cost evenly to each dwelling unit. Thus, all occupants pay the same regardless of consumption.
  3. The owner/manager takes the total utility charge and calculates the cost depending on the square footage of individual dwelling unit. The individual occupant’s consumption has no relationship to billing charged.
  4. Utility assistance and programs to reduce utility consumption are not typically available to master metered buildings since they are not individual billed customers. Individual residents do not know how much utility service they use, thus there is no incentive to reduce waste or take advantage of efficiency measures.

 

  • Sub-meters: Sub-meters locations are multiple dwelling units constructed since 1978, or multiple dwelling units that have retro-fitted master meters. Maryland in 1978 passed a law, which was codified in 2010 to Public Utility Law §7-304, which exempted building constructed before 1978 from requirements to retrofit building to individual meters. In these situations the multiple dwelling unit has a master meter, after the master meter sub-meters are installed. Sub-meters provide a separate meter for each unit, building owners/managers read these individual meters and provide bills to individual owners. A separate sub-meter accounts for the utility costs for public areas (heating, elevators, offices, etc.); these costs are then made part of the rental agreement or periodic assessments. Residents in sub-metered dwellings are eligible for electric and natural gas assistance through Maryland Department of Human Services, Office of Home Energy.