Certain multi-family property owners may bill residents for water and sewer services.
Under North Carolina law, and subject to approval by the NC Utilities Commission, multi-family property owners that meet certain requirements may bill residents for the cost of water and sewer service from Greenville Utilities.
How Multi-Family Properties Receive GUC Water and Sewer Services
Owners of multi-family developments typically bill residents for water and sewer charges in one of two ways:
- Properties may receive service through one or a small number of “master” meters that serve the entire property. Property owners receive a bill from Greenville Utilities. The cost of water and sewer service is either included in the residents’ rent or is sub-metered by the property owner who then bills the tenant.
- In other properties, each residential unit may be served by a GUC meter. In these cases, each unit’s water use is measured and each resident receives a bill from Greenville Utilities.
Third-party “Submetering” and Rebilling
In accord with State law, and with approval of the NC Utilities Commission, owners of multi-family developments with master-meters may install private meters, or “submeters,” to measure water and sewer use and bill each residence for these services.
Under the Utilities Commission’s rules, the property owner can pass through the per unit share of GUC’s fixed monthly charges plus charges based on the volume of water and sewer service used. An administrative fee of up to $3.75 per dwelling unit may be added to cover the costs of submeter reading, billing, and collection.
In some multi-family developments, the private submeters measure only hot water use, and water/sewer volume charges are therefore allocated based on hot water use.
Greenville Utilities has no authority over the rates set by the NC Utilities Commission.
The NC Utilities Commission’s rules for water companies are available here.
More Information
For more information, contact the NC Utilities Commission Water/Sewer Division at (919) 733-5610, Water@psncuc.nc.gov
Greenville Utilities Water Resources at 252-551-1551.