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Blended-rate calculator for tenant electric billing

Enter your utility bill and each tenant's kWh. The calculator works out your blended rate and what each tenant owes, the same way MeterSight Bronze builds its invoices.

Your utility bill
Include demand, fees and taxes.
Tenant usage this cycle

Blended rate$0.1243/kWh
TenantkWhInvoice
Tenants total0$0.00
Common areas and unbilled0$0.00

The calculator runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere. Rounded to the cent per tenant.

Let Bronze do this every cycle

What is a blended rate?

A blended rate is the average price you paid for each kWh on your utility bill. It folds every charge on the bill into one number:

Blended rate = total bill ($) ÷ total energy (kWh)

Commercial electric bills are rarely a simple price per kWh. They include energy charges that can change by time of day, demand charges based on your highest 15-minute peak, delivery charges, fixed customer fees and taxes. Rebuilding all of that for each tenant is complicated, and the result still won't add up to what you paid.

A blended rate avoids the problem. Multiply each tenant's metered kWh by it, and the invoices recover their share of the full bill, demand and fees included.

When a blended rate works well

  • Tenants have similar load shapes, such as warehouse or light-industrial units.
  • You want invoices that tenants can check with a calculator.
  • Your leases allow electricity to be billed at the owner's actual average cost.

When to look closer

  • One tenant sets most of the property's peak demand, such as a shop running large motors, compressors or ovens. MeterSight Silver shows each meter's 15-minute demand so you can see who sets the peak.
  • Your state limits what can be charged for resold electricity. Check your public utility commission's rules.

Blended-rate questions

How do I calculate a blended electricity rate?
Add up the total charges on your utility bill and divide by the total kWh billed. For example, $4,312.80 ÷ 34,696 kWh = $0.1243 per kWh. Use the full bill, including demand charges, fees and taxes.
Why use a blended rate instead of the utility's tariff?
Commercial tariffs mix energy charges, demand charges, time-of-use periods and fixed fees. Rebuilding that for every tenant is complex and still won't match the bill. A blended rate is simple, easy for tenants to understand, and recovers the tenants' full share of what you paid.
Should I update the blended rate every month?
Many owners recalculate it from each month's bill so invoices follow seasonal changes. Others use a 12-month average for steadier bills. Either works, as long as your leases and your state's rules allow it.
Is a blended rate fair to tenants with high demand?
A blended rate spreads demand charges in proportion to kWh. If one tenant drives most of your peak demand, you may want to bill demand separately. MeterSight Silver shows each meter's 15-minute demand so you can see who sets the peak.
Can MeterSight create the invoices for me?
Yes. MeterSight Bronze reads your submeters, applies your blended rate and creates an invoice for each tenant every billing cycle.

Stop doing this in a spreadsheet

MeterSight Bronze reads your submeters and creates these invoices automatically at the close of every billing cycle.

Download Bronze freeSee how it works