Utility submetering puts a meter on each unit that measures and bills its water/sewer, gas, and electric use. The technology has been around since the early 1920s. NES installs the meters, reads them, pays the master-meter bill, and bills your residents, all in-house and with bilingual support.
When residents pay for what they actually use, they cut back. Most properties see 15 to 30 percent lower water use. Submetering also catches leaks early, lets you bill common-area usage accurately, and can raise the value of the property. Payback usually lands within 12 to 18 months.
In most of the state, yes. Tennessee has no statute specific to submetering, so the lease governs how residents are billed. An owner billing only its own residents is not a utility "dedicated to the public use" under Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-4-101(6)(A), so no TPUC certification is needed. Memphis is the exception: NES does not offer submetered or RUBS billing in MLGW's service area, whose service policy allows only at-cost apportionment with the utility's consent. Elsewhere, what matters is that the lease sets out the billing method and any administrative fee before residents are billed, and that bills show measured usage clearly. NES sets that up and keeps it consistent.
Tennessee has no submetering-specific statute, so submetering water, gas, and electric is governed by the lease and general contract law. Utility service itself in Knox County falls under the Tennessee Public Utility Commission. NES tracks the current Tennessee and local requirements for your address, so billing is set up to match the rule.
Water, electricity, and natural gas across much of the area are provided by the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB). NES works with whichever provider serves your property, installs the submeters, reads them, pays the master-meter bill, and bills your residents in-house across the Knoxville area.
Most submetering installs pay for themselves within 12 to 18 months through the utility cost you recover. We'll run the numbers on your actual master-meter bills and unit count, then send you a clear, no-obligation estimate.
No. NES installs nonproprietary meters that other companies can read, and extended warranties are available on our submeters. You're never locked in.