Adding two gas/electric meters to single fam property

[Mike Goikhberg]

    I am considering buying a property that was built as a two unit but is not zoned as such in baltimore CITY. I want to split the electrical. Is there any way for me to get a second meter there? Or perhaps wire two separate electrical panels to the same meter? Does anyone have experience doing this sort of thing?

[Seth Borman]

Quote from @Ryan Normand:

No. It sounds like you are in an area that is zoned single family, and per NEC 230.2 you can only have one electrical service (i.e. meter) to your house. If you want 2 separate services/meters, usually the only legit way is to have it zoned multifamily so the city and utility companies formally recognize it as a duplex.

You may be able to install a sub panel. Check to make sure your current service has enough amperage to support whatever loads you plan on adding. Sub panels are pretty common for additions, garages, etc. Even with a sub panel, you're still only going to get one bill from the utility company. 

You may want to treat the second unit as an ADU instead of a true duplex. That will make your life a lot easier from a utilities and zoning perspective. Rezoning and separating all the utilities will be extremely costly and time consuming.

 The NEC doesn't care about zoning. A multiunit building can only have one service drop, that doesn't mean that it can't have more than one meter.

The city or utility might have their own spin on things, but it isn't coming from the electrical code.