Jacksonville tenant in a strip mall is getting charged through their lease for JEA service. Landlord says they're on schedule GS-1 (General Service) but the demand charges look more like GS-3 (Large General Service). Monthly demand averaging 85 kW. Shouldn't they be on GS-1 which caps at 20 kW demand?
JEA rate class mismatch in Florida strip mall
Robert - JEA's GS-1 is actually capped at 50 kW demand, not 20 kW. But 85 kW should definitely be on GS-3. The rate difference is significant - GS-3 has lower energy charges but higher demand charges. Could be costing the tenant money either way depending on their load factor.
I've seen this with Entergy in Mississippi. Sometimes the utility puts the whole building on one rate schedule and the landlord doesn't realize individual tenants might qualify for better rates if separately metered. What's the building's total demand?
Building total is around 340 kW. It's master metered with sub-meters for each tenant. JEA bills the landlord on schedule GS-3, then landlord allocates costs based on sub-meter readings. My tenant averages about 25% of total usage.
That allocation method could be problematic. GS-3 has time-of-use demand charges. If your tenant's peak doesn't coincide with the building peak, they might be overpaying. Have you compared their individual sub-meter peak demand to their allocated share of building demand charges?
Nancy - great point. Tenant's individual peak is 47 kW but they're being allocated 25% of the building's peak demand charge (85 kW worth). That's a $180/month overpayment right there.
This is why demand allocation in master-metered buildings is so tricky. The fairest method is to allocate based on each tenant's individual peak contribution to the building peak, not just their percentage of kWh usage.
Demand allocation disputes are common in lease pass-throughs. The key is distinguishing between energy allocation (which can be proportional to usage) and demand allocation (which should reflect actual contribution to building peak). Document the timing differences and present a fair allocation methodology to the landlord.