Why the landlord and the sub-tenant are on different tariffs
Where a metro offers both a medium voltage and a low voltage large power user tariff, the difference is whether there is a transformer on site. A landlord who owns the transformer is supplied at medium voltage. A tenant fed from that landlord is supplied at low voltage. The tenant has no effect on the landlord's classification or demand charge.
What you will see
- Two profiles on the same physical site showing different rates.
- Consumption bracket rates that used to agree and then diverged.
- "Has our classification changed because we took on a sub-tenant?"
- A tenant querying a recovery bill that is higher than the Augos consumption for the same month.
Why it happens
The tariff class follows the voltage at which supply is delivered. Owning the transformer means the utility delivers at medium voltage and you are classified accordingly. Anything fed from you is receiving low voltage supply and is classified on the low voltage tariff. This is a property of the physical connection, not of who occupies the building.
Rates diverging at the start of a tariff year is the annual increase, not an error.
What to do
- Confirm which profile you are looking at. On a shared site there will be more than one.
- If the rates on a profile do not match that party's own utility bill, report it. Augos loads rates from the account, and a mismatch is a fixable configuration problem.
- If you are a tenant disputing a recovery bill, ask for a bill verification against the landlord's invoice rather than trying to reconcile by hand. See Understanding a bill verification variance.
Good to know
- Taking on a sub-tenant does not change your own tariff class or your demand charge.
- Landlords billing tenants from Augos data usually run on a non-calendar cycle, for example the 19th to the 19th. Make sure Augos has your billing period recorded against the account, not just in one person's head. See Custom billing periods.
- A landlord recovery bill that is materially higher than Augos for one month, then materially lower the next, is usually the landlord billing on estimated readings and correcting them afterwards. Look at three consecutive months before concluding anything.
Still stuck
Email support@augos.io with the site name, the two profiles you are comparing,
and the utility accounts for each.