Submetering & billing
Guardian Water & Power
Guardian Water & Power is a Columbus, Ohio utility cost recovery company founded in 1983. It designs and installs submeter systems, reads meters, bills residents, collects payments and manages utility data for apartments, condominiums, offices, retail space, manufactured housing communities and marinas.
A typical installation puts a wireless meter on each unit and a central submeter data collector, about the size of a router, in a mechanical room, closet or leasing office. Pre-programmed, client-installed submeter kits are available where a property prefers to do the work itself; otherwise certified technicians handle installation. Water, gas and electric submetering are all supported, with automatic meter reading, hourly electric data and leak detection on water meters.
Billing comes in levels. The first is read and monitor only, with data exported to CSV for the property to bill itself. The second adds per-unit utility charge calculation delivered as a CSV file. The third sends residents a monthly bill from Guardian instructing them to pay alongside rent, and gives management admin access to submit occupancy changes and view bills; RUBS is available for properties without submeters, and trash, hot water energy and pest control charges can be added. The billing platform, GuardianSoft+, integrates with Yardi, OneSite, Entrata and RentManager.
The company reports monitoring more than 200,000 submeter points nationwide and processing over $36,000,000 in utility payments annually, with a 94% account retention rate and a 10-day average meter service and repair time. Nine offices around the country staff sales teams, regional project managers and field technicians, with the head office at 1650 Watermark Dr, Columbus, OH 43215.
Best for
Owners and managers of apartments, condominiums, manufactured housing communities and marinas who want submeters designed, installed and read, and residents billed, by one vendor rather than several.
What they do
- Submeter system design
- Water, gas and electric submeter installation
- Client-installed submeter kits
- Automatic meter reading (AMR)
- Meter maintenance and repair programmes
- Water leak detection
- Monthly resident utility billing
- RUBS billing for properties without submeters
- Utility charge calculation and CSV exports
- Collections and utility payment processing
- Integration with Yardi, OneSite, Entrata and RentManager
- New-construction submetering project management
Details
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1983 |
| Other offices | Round Rock, TX, Cranford, NJ, Tacoma, WA, Raleigh, NC, San Jose, CA, Jacksonville, FL, Honolulu, HI, Orange, CA |
What stands out
- Founded in 1983 and monitors more than 200,000 submeter points nationwide.
- Processes over $36,000,000 in utility payments annually.
- Reports a 94% account retention rate and a 10-day average meter service and repair time.
- Operates nine offices nationwide staffed with sales teams, project managers and field technicians.
- Billing platform GuardianSoft+ integrates with Yardi, OneSite, Entrata and RentManager.
Common questions
- What levels of utility billing service are available?
- Four. Level 1 provides meter read data online, including hourly electric data and water leak detection, with CSV export so the property calculates and bills itself. Level 2 adds Guardian calculating per-unit utility charges each month, delivered as a CSV file for posting to resident accounts; Guardian does not mail bills at that level. Level 3 has Guardian send residents a monthly bill to pay alongside rent, with a charge file for the property and admin access for submitting occupancy changes and viewing bills. RUBS is available for properties without submeters.
- How is a submetering system installed?
- A wireless meter is installed for each unit, and a central submeter data collector, about the size of a router, is placed in a mechanical room, closet or leasing office. Pre-programmed, client-installed submeter kits are also available for properties that prefer to handle installation themselves or use their own contractor.