vs RUBS
Per gallon
Residents pay only for what they actually use.
A submeter records every gallon a unit uses, and people use less once they are paying their own bill. RUBS divides the master bill by a formula. Submetering bills the real number.
Water, gas, and electric submetering, installed and billed by NES.
NES installs the meters, reads them, pays the master-meter bill, and bills your residents for water, gas, and electric. A bilingual team has handled all of it in house since 1968. Most properties cut water use 15 to 30 percent, and payback lands in 12 to 18 months.
15-40%Typical utility savings
12-18moAverage payback
1968Privately owned since
BilingualIn-house support
Quick answer
What is utility submetering?
Utility submetering means putting an individual meter on each apartment unit to measure exactly how much water, gas, or electricity that resident uses, then billing them for it directly. NES installs the meters, reads them, pays the master-meter utility bills, and bills residents in house, with bilingual customer service. Most properties see water use fall by 15 to 30 percent, with payback in 12 to 18 months.
- 15-40% typical utility savings after submetering
- 12-18 month average payback
- Nonproprietary meters (Badger, Cereniti, MasterMeter, Neptune, NextCentury, Norgas, Sensus)
- Bilingual in-house customer service for residents
- Audit-ready compliance in every state we operate
Why it works
Three numbers that matter.
EPA documented
15 to 30%
Average drop in unit-level water use.
When residents pay for what they use, the dripping faucet finally gets fixed and the long shower gets shorter. Properties in warm climates with a lot of irrigation tend to see the biggest savings.
Hourly reads
Under 24 hr
Catch a leak before it costs $1,800.
A running toilet can waste close to $1,800 of water a year. The NES dashboard catches it the same day, so the property manager hears about it before the resident does.
What it is
Equipment that measures and bills each unit's water, gas, or electric use.
Submetering puts a meter and a small transmitter on each unit. The transmitter sends each reading to a central computer, usually in the leasing office. NES pulls the usage, creates each resident's bill, and handles the billing, the accounts receivable, and the customer support in house. The approach has been around since the early 1920s. Water is the most common utility to meter, though plenty of properties meter all of them.
By utility
One contract. All four utilities.
Most owners start with water, the biggest recoverable spend with the fastest payback, then layer in electric and gas. Where physical metering isn’t viable, RUBS bridges the gap.
Water submetering
The most common NES install. Cold-water meters at each unit, optional hot-water capture, wireless reads delivered to a property gateway. Residents see usage and pay only for what they consume.
- Identifies a unit-level leak in under 24 hours
- Ends the dispute over who used the water
- ENERGY STAR and GRESB data exported automatically
Electric submetering
Solid-state revenue-grade kWh meters at each unit panel or feeder. Compatible with check meter and master-meter recovery models. NES handles licensed electrician sourcing.
- Rates pass through net of the utility tariff
- Vacant unit electricity automatically billed to owner
- Compliant in every PUC-regulated state NES operates
Gas submetering
Diaphragm and rotary meters from class-1 manufacturers, BTU-corrected for elevation and pressure. NES coordinates with the local distribution company where pass-through agreements apply.
- Pass-through billing where state permits
- Therm-based or CCF-based rate structures
- LDC coordination handled by NES
RUBS submetering
When physical submetering isn't viable (pre-1990 construction, plumbing constraints, prohibitive retrofit cost) RUBS allocates the master-meter cost to units by formula: occupancy, square footage, fixture count, or a weighted blend.
- Live in 30 days, no construction required
- Bridge solution while planning a capex install
- Migrate to submetering on the same NES contract later
Submetering vs RUBS
Three ways to handle the water bill.
Most owners move off a flat master-meter setup to either RUBS or submetering. Here is how the three compare.
| Master meter | RUBS | SubmeteringRecommended | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How residents pay | Nothing separate. Water is folded into the rent. | A share of the master bill, set by a formula such as occupancy or square footage. | For the exact water each unit uses, read from its own meter. |
| Accuracy | None. Everyone pays the same, no matter how much they use. | Estimated. Close, but based on a formula rather than real use. | Exact. Billed to the gallon. |
| Effect on usage | No change. There is no reason to conserve. | Modest. Residents see a charge but not their own usage. | Large. Usage usually falls 15 to 30%. |
| Upfront cost | None. | Low. No meters to install, and live in about 30 days. | Meters and installation, which NES can finance. |
| What the owner recovers | Nothing. The owner absorbs the whole bill. | Most of the bill, typically 70 to 85%. | Nearly the whole bill, typically 85 to 95%, moves to the residents who use it. |
| Best when | Rarely the most profitable choice. | The plumbing makes individual meters impractical. | You want the fairest billing and the biggest savings. |
NES installs and operates both submetering and RUBS, so the recommendation comes from what fits your property, not from what we sell. See how RUBS billing works.
Real hardware, real installs
The meters are real, and so is the crew that installs them.
NES installs standards-grade meters with our own W-2 technicians, not a list of subcontractors. The equipment is nonproprietary and owned by you, and optional extended warranty coverage is available.
- Installed in under 30 minutes per occupied unit.
- Nonproprietary meters that another provider can read.
- Hourly reads that flag a leak the same day it starts.
NES vs. the rest
Submetering vendors all look the same on a pitch deck.
The difference shows up around month four, when something breaks. Here is where it usually breaks, and where NES does not.
NESNational Exemption Service · since 1968
Other submetering vendorsTypical industry default
Experience
Since 1968
Privately owned. Still independent.
A few years
Ownership can change mid-contract.
Installation
We install it
NES W-2 technicians. Optional extended warranties.
Billing only
Hands you a list of subcontractors.
Equipment
Nonproprietary
Standards-grade meters. Switch vendors anytime.
Locked-in
Proprietary meters + software. Switching means a re-install.
Resident support
In-house, bilingual
Residents reach a real person. Spanish standard. NES employees.
Ticket queue
Often no direct resident phone line. Long holds, then a ticket number.
Compliance
Dedicated team
43+ state jurisdictions tracked in-house.
Your problem
PUC filings? Read the contract carefully.
Onboarding
Manager training
Live sessions with your regional team, every cycle.
PDF + a link
A self-service portal and no live training.
Payment options
Eight ways to pay
Autopay, ACH, card, check, paperless, phone, kiosk, USPS.
Two or three
Card + ACH only on most platforms.
Sounds like your property?
Tell us the unit count and your current setup. An NES specialist will run the numbers and respond within one business day.
How recovery actually works
How a master-meter bill becomes recovered NOI.
The four-step path every recovered dollar takes. NES owns every step. The figures below are real results from an NES client, a 130-home community in Texas.
01
Master-meter bill
Utility bills the whole property
$120,000 / yr
130-home community in Texas · water + sewer
02
Submeter every home
NES installs & services
130 meters
Hourly reads · nonproprietary equipment
03
Billed back to residents
Each home pays for what it uses
$113,400 / yr
Statements, collections, and resident support by NES
04
Owner pays, after
Common areas only, down from $120,000
$6,600 / yr
Over $113,000 a year back to the community
What the owner pays each year
Real client results, not an example. Same property, same utility bill. The owner’s cost dropped from $120,000 to $6,600 a year.
Featured case study
What submetering did at a 337-unit community.
We measured one property partway through its rollout, and it shows both ways submetering pays off. First, water use falls. Then, once residents are billed for what they use, the owner's water cost nearly disappears.
337 unitsApartment communityBased on 168 submetered units compared with 169 units that were not yet metered at the same property, about halfway through the rollout.
Step 1 · Submeter the water
Usage drops on its own.
Both groups lived in the same buildings and paid the same rates during the same season. The only difference was the meter. Once residents could see they were paying for their own water, they used about a third less of it.
Avg. water use / unit / mo
Not metered
5,846 gal
Submetered
3,868 gal
34%reduction in water use per unit
Step 2 · Bill residents for their use
The owner's water cost nearly disappears.
Once the meters are in, each resident is billed for the water they actually used, usually around $54 a month, and they pay it directly. The property stops covering that cost. About all the owner has left to pay for is the water used in shared areas, which comes to very little.
Owner's water cost / unit / mo
Before
$84.72
After
≈ $0
≈ $0owner cost per unit once residents pay
More NES results
140 unitsNew Mexico
99%cut in owner-absorbed water + sewer expense
The property paid $26,400 a year in water and sewer, about $15.70 per unit every month. After NES installed submeters and shifted billing to residents, the owner's share dropped to $264 a year, around 16 cents per unit.
$15.70/unit/mo
Before
$0.16/unit/mo
After
130 unitsTexas
$113K+recovered per year in new revenue
Leak detection alone saved 30% in year one by catching running fixtures and broken lines. After full resident billing went live, the owner's cost fell from about $77 per unit every month to $4.23.
$77/unit/mo
Before
$4.23/unit/mo
After
“Great Company..... including receiving a personal call from the Owner. This shows us that your company cares about its customers.”
A member of, and recognized by
Meet the team
The people who install, read, and bill.
Built for
Six asset classes. One playbook.
Submetering, RUBS, billing, and compliance, set up for each property type and run by the same NES team.
Multifamily
Garden, mid-rise, hi-rise. From 100-unit properties to the largest portfolios.
Mobile home parks
Pad-level water, electric, and gas billing.
Condo / HOA
Owner-occupied compliance, 7-yr archives.
Student housing
Roommate-split billing, semester cycles.
Developers & new construction
Meters specced, purchased & installed during the build.
Large portfolios
Phased rollouts, dedicated relationship team.
No surprises
No upfront cost. Cash flow from the first bill.
The audit and the savings model are free. NES can finance the meters, so there is no capital outlay to get started. The day metering and billing go live, the recovered cost flows back to the property and net cash flow goes up.
$0
Audit
A free walk-through, a master-meter analysis, and an executive PDF within five business days, whether or not you decide to move forward.
Financed
Meters & install
NES finances the meters and the labor. There is no upfront cost, and net cash flow rises as soon as metering and billing are operational.
By size
Ongoing service
Billing, AR, compliance, and resident support, priced by property or portfolio size rather than as a percentage of recovery. Predictable and flat.
Master Services Agreement reviewable in one week.· No hardware lock-in. No proprietary meters. No exit fee.
Common questions, answered.
After the meter
Everything that happens next: also us.
Most submetering vendors stop at the install. NES runs the whole back office, including invoicing, accounts receivable, vacant-unit capture, leak detection, and compliance.
Utility Billing & Invoicing
Monthly invoices, AR reconciliation, dispute handling, and late-fee management, branded to your portfolio.
- Bill cycle within 5 days of read
- Posts to Yardi / RealPage / Entrata
- Disputes resolved in 1 cycle avg.
Collections & Recovery
Vacant-unit capture and resident AR collection, handled in-house by a dedicated NES team.
- Vacant unit billed to owner from day 1
- Door hangers, letters, skip tracing
- Net recovery to your dashboard
MyReads Leak Detection
Hourly reads flag a unit-level leak the same day, before it turns into a four-figure water bill.
- Email alerts to your maintenance team
- Customizable sensitivity
- Most installs pay back on leaks alone
RUBS Allocation
When metering is not practical, RUBS allocates the master-meter bill by formula and can be live in 30 days.
- No construction, no capex
- Occupancy / sq.ft. / fixture blends
- Convertible to submetering later
Compliance Management
An in-house compliance team tracks all 43+ state jurisdictions and keeps you audit-ready every month.
- 7-year searchable bill archive
- State rate filings handled by NES
- Access controls and encrypted billing data
1968
Founded · privately owned · still independent
100K+
Units billed monthly across the platform
43+
State jurisdictions covered in-house
Bilingual
In-house call center · English + Spanish
Extended
Optional warranties on meters we install
How NES works
From master meter to recovered NOI, in four steps.
Day 0 to 5
01Free audit
Send 12 months of master-meter bills. A specialist confirms scope with you within one business day, then models the recovery and payback on your real numbers. Your written assessment arrives within five business days.
Day 5 to 45
02Install
NES W-2 technicians install the meters with under 30 minutes of downtime per occupied unit. The equipment is nonproprietary, and extended warranties are available.
Monthly
03Bill & support
Hourly reads feed in-house billing. A bilingual customer service team handles every resident question and dispute.
Ongoing
04Recover
Net recovery posts to your PMS the same cycle. You track consumption, accounts receivable, and recovery in the owner dashboard.
Common questions
What owners ask before signing.
An NES specialist needs a few details first, such as the meter type that fits the property, where the meters and shutoff valves are, and the number of units. With that, you get an accurate price. Payback usually lands between 12 and 18 months. If submetering is not the right fit for your property, NES can quote RUBS instead.
You are not locked in. NES only uses nonproprietary equipment that other companies can read. The meters NES sells or leases are yours, and they are priced at cost, which almost no one else in this business does.
A meter and transmitter are installed in each apartment unit. The transmitter communicates with a central computer typically located in the leasing office. NES connects to the computer to pull usage information. NES pulls that usage and builds each resident's bill from it.
Yes, absolutely. NES provides a login to a web-based system so you have 24/7 access to information about your property. Training and a dedicated property liaison are included.
All of the major ones: water and sewer, gas, and electric. NES can also handle trash, cable, or telephone.
NES offers a dedicated leak-detection service called MyReads. The platform tracks the property's water meters several times each day. If usage is abnormally high, MyReads generates an email notification for the maintenance team and property managers. A leaking toilet flapper or valve is the most common issue that causes high water bills.
Submetering is legal across most of the country, and the rules vary by state, county, and municipality. NES tracks every state's submetering, RUBS disclosure, and PUC rules with a dedicated in-house compliance team. Rate filings and audit archives are handled.
For most multifamily properties, yes. Submetering usually cuts water use by 15 to 30% and moves the utility cost to the residents who actually use it. Because NES can finance the meters, the property typically sees higher net cash flow from the first billing cycle, and the financed cost is paid back inside the recovery window.
Submetering puts a meter on every unit and bills each resident for the exact water they use. RUBS uses no meters. It splits the master bill by a formula such as occupancy or square footage. Submetering is the most accurate and produces the largest savings, while RUBS is a good fit when the plumbing makes individual meters impractical. NES runs both, so the recommendation is based on your property.
An NES technician installs each meter in under 30 minutes per occupied unit. Most properties are fully metered within a few weeks, depending on size and access. Residents keep their water on and their normal routine throughout.