I'm auditing a two-story office building in Denver on Xcel Energy. The upstairs tenant and downstairs tenant have nearly identical square footage and similar businesses — both professional services firms. But the upstairs tenant's electric bill is $4,800/month and the downstairs tenant is $2,900/month. The landlord asked me to figure out why. Where do I start?
Same building, different tenants, wildly different bills
Start by checking if they're on the same rate schedule. If one tenant got placed on a higher-cost rate than the other, that alone could explain it. Then look at demand — if upstairs has a server room or heavier HVAC load, their demand charges could be driving the difference. Finally, check the meters. I've seen situations where meter assignments got swapped during a renovation and Tenant A is paying for Tenant B's usage.
The meter swap scenario Derek mentioned is more common than people think, especially in multi-tenant buildings that have been renovated. Ask the landlord for the meter assignment records and physically verify which meter serves which space. If the meters are in a common electrical room, have an electrician confirm the assignments. I've found swapped meters three times in my career and each time the tenants had been paying each other's bills for years.
You nailed it. Meters were swapped during a 2015 renovation. Upstairs has been paying for downstairs' server room for three years. This is going to be an interesting conversation with the landlord.
Ha — I knew it. That's a satisfying find. Good luck with that conversation.