Separate Electric Meter for Your ADU
If your ADU shares the house's electric meter, every month starts with the same question: how much of this bill is theirs? A separate meter ends the guessing. Your tenant gets their own electric account and their own bill, your house goes back to being just your house, and the ADU is set up as its own unit — for renting today, and for whatever your city allows tomorrow.
Elevate Utilities installs separate electric meters and services for ADUs across Sacramento and the foothills: dual-meter panels, service splits, trenching and conduit, permits and inspection, and the coordination with your utility that gets the new meter set. We check your existing service first, and we tell you plainly what your property needs — and what it doesn’t.
Guided by Purpose. Built to Last.
Why homeowners split the meter
Clean renting. A separately metered ADU means your tenant opens their own electric account and pays their own bill. No estimating a share, no arguing over a hot month, no utilities math in the lease.
The ADU stands on its own. Separate meter, separate panel, separate address — the ADU reads as its own home to the utility, to a future buyer, and to anyone financing it.
Ready if the law comes to your city. California now lets cities allow ADUs to be sold separately from the main house (see “The law behind this,” below). No city in our area has adopted that option yet — but anywhere it has been adopted, separate utilities are part of the deal. Owners who separate the meter now have the slow, utility-scheduled part already done.
It can be required, not just nice. If an ADU is ever conveyed separately where that’s allowed, the utility can require a separate connection between the ADU and the utility before it happens. Doing it on your schedule beats doing it on a closing deadline.
What the work actually involves
A look at your existing service first. We start with your panel and service size. Some homes can take a dual-meter main that serves house and ADU side by side; others need a service upgrade or a second service drop. The free photo check tells us which property you have.
A separate service for the ADU. Depending on the layout, that’s a two-meter (duplex) panel at the main house, a separate meter main, or a new service run to the ADU — with trenching and conduit where the ADU sits away from the house.
A separate address. A separately metered unit normally gets its own street address (often a half-address, like 1234½) assigned through the city or county. That address is how the utility opens the ADU’s own account.
Utility coordination. A new meter means an application with your electric utility, their design review, and their scheduling to set the meter and energize. That part runs on the utility’s clock — it can take months — which is why this work starts early, not when a lease is already signed.
Permits and inspection. We pull the electrical permits, do the work to code, and get it inspected, so the installation is on record the way a future sale, refinance, or insurance question will want it.
Where separate sale is possible today — straight answer
As of October 2026, no city or county in the Sacramento area has adopted the ordinance that allows an ADU to be sold separately. That includes Sacramento, Sacramento County (Carmichael and the other unincorporated communities), Citrus Heights, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Roseville, Rocklin, Auburn, Grass Valley, Colfax, and El Dorado County. A handful of California cities have opted in — San Jose was first, and San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Santa Cruz, and Berkeley are among them — but the option does not exist here yet.
So today, this page is about the two things a separate meter does do for you right now: clean, separate billing for a rented ADU, and having the electrical separation finished if and when your city opts in. We follow the adoption votes across the region, and the day one of our cities adopts, this page — and our customers who prepared — will already be there. If anyone tells you that you can sell your Sacramento ADU separately today, ask them to show you the ordinance.
The law behind this (AB 1033)
California’s AB 1033 (2023) added Government Code § 66342: a city or county may — it is not required to — adopt an ordinance allowing a primary home and its ADU to be sold or conveyed separately as condominiums. Where a city has opted in, the process includes a recorded condominium plan under the Davis-Stirling Act and the Subdivision Map Act, a safety inspection of the ADU, written consent from every lienholder, formation of a homeowners association, and notification to the utility providers. State law also allows a utility to require a new or separate utility connection for the ADU upon separate conveyance. Junior ADUs (JADUs) can never be sold separately — state law requires a deed restriction against it. None of the legal steps are electrical work, and we don’t do them — you’ll want a real estate attorney for the condominium side. The electrical separation those steps depend on is exactly our side of the fence.
How the project runs
Free photo check — call or text (530) 515-6924. Send photos of your panel and your ADU and tell us the goal: tenant billing, a future sale, or both. We confirm what your service can support and which setup fits. Free estimates, straight answers.
Scope and plan. We map the route — dual-meter main vs. separate service, overhead vs. underground, trench path if there is one — and line out the utility application and permits before any work is sold.
We do the electrical work. Panel and meter equipment set, service split, trenching and conduit run, ADU panel fed — permitted and inspected as we go.
The utility sets the meter. We coordinate the final steps with your utility; once their meter is set and the ADU’s account is open, the split is complete and the two homes bill separately.
Thinking about a separate meter for your ADU? Call or text (530) 515-6924 for a free photo check and estimate.
Elevate Utilities · Licensed electrical contractor · CSLB #1084701 · Free estimates · Serving Sacramento, Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Folsom, Roseville, Rancho Cordova, El Dorado Hills, Auburn, Grass Valley & surrounding areas.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a separate meter to rent out my ADU?
No — plenty of ADUs rent on a shared meter, with utilities included in the rent or split by agreement. A separate meter is the cleaner setup: your tenant has their own utility account, pays their own bill, and there’s nothing to estimate or dispute. A private sub-meter is a middle option that tracks the ADU’s usage without a second utility account; we’ll walk you through which one fits your situation.
Can I sell my ADU separately in Sacramento right now?
Not yet. State law (AB 1033) lets a city choose to allow it, and as of October 2026 no city or county in the Sacramento area has adopted that ordinance — including Sacramento and Sacramento County. Anyone mid-process should confirm with their planning department before spending on legal or survey work. What you can do now is the electrical preparation, so you’re not starting from zero if your city opts in.
What’s the difference between a sub-meter and a separate utility meter?
A sub-meter is a private meter behind your main meter: it measures the ADU’s usage so you can bill fairly, but there’s still one utility account — yours. A separate utility meter means the utility itself meters the ADU, with its own account in the occupant’s name. Separate sale, separate financing, and most “it’s really its own home” situations call for the utility meter.
Will my existing panel and service handle a second meter?
Sometimes — that’s what the free photo check is for. Many homes move to a dual-meter main that carries both units; some older services need an upgrade first, especially the panel types we replace every week. We check the capacity honestly before quoting anything, and if an upgrade is needed, you hear it up front.
How long does a separate-meter project take?
Our electrical work is the fast part. The long pole is your utility’s application, design, and meter-set scheduling, which can stretch to months depending on their queue. Starting the utility process early — before a tenant is lined up or a plan depends on it — is the single best move in this whole project.