Shared electricity subscription in housing cooperatives: when does it pay off?

What does shared electricity mean?

In most apartment buildings, each apartment has its own grid subscription with its own meter from the grid company and its own supply contract. With shared electricity, sometimes called collective electricity or IMD for electricity (individual metering and billing), this is replaced by a single subscription for the whole building.

The housing cooperative (BRF) then buys all electricity through one connection point. The cooperative installs its own meters in the apartments and bills each member for the electricity they actually used, often via the fee notice.

Residents therefore still pay for their own consumption. The difference is that the apartments' fixed fees to the grid company and the retailer disappear.

Where the savings come from

The savings come mainly from three sources:

• Fewer fixed grid fees. Instead of one fixed fee per apartment, the cooperative pays one for the whole building, often on a larger subscription.
• Fewer fixed supply fees. Monthly fees per apartment disappear.
• The cooperative negotiates the volume. The whole building's consumption is procured together, which can give better terms than individual household contracts.

How large the savings are depends entirely on the grid company's price list for small apartment subscriptions compared with a larger subscription. The price difference varies greatly between grid companies, so always calculate using your own grid operator's current price list.

Example: A cooperative has 40 apartments. If the fixed grid fee per apartment is 1,500 kr per year and the fixed supply fee 400 kr per year, members together pay 40 × 1,900 = 76,000 kr per year in fixed fees. If the cooperative's shared subscription costs 20,000 kr per year more than today after the switch, and metering and billing cost 15,000 kr per year, the net is 76,000 − 20,000 − 15,000 = 41,000 kr per year. The investment in meters and electrical work should be weighed against that amount. The figures are a worked example.

What it costs and what can go wrong

• Investment. Rebuilding distribution boards, new meters in each apartment, possibly a larger main fuse and design work. Request fixed-price quotes.
• Running costs. Meter data collection, billing, service and future meter replacements.
• Larger subscription. The whole building's capacity is concentrated on one connection. With a main fuse above 63 A, this often means a capacity subscription (effektabonnemang) with subscribed capacity and a risk of overruns. See Peak loads: lower your grid fee.
• The cooperative takes on responsibility. Metering, billing and contact with members about faults become the cooperative's responsibility, even if a supplier handles it in practice.
• Members cannot choose their own electricity contract as long as the apartments do not have their own subscriptions with the grid company.

The rules: check before you decide

This is the part where the board needs to be careful, because the rules are about to change.

Networks within the building. Today, which internal electricity networks may be used without a network licence is governed by the ordinance (2007:215) on exemptions from the requirement for a network licence, often called the IKN-förordningen (the ordinance on internal networks exempt from grid licensing). It permits, among other things, networks on or within a building, and transmission on behalf of others on such a network under certain conditions. If the cooperative's network extends between several buildings or across street land, the assessment may be different.

New legislation from 2027. The Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) has adopted new laws on the electricity system that replace the Electricity Act on 1 January 2027, including a law on electrical lines. Under the new law, exemptions from the requirement for a network licence are to be issued by the government. According to the Riksdag's statute database, the IKN-förordningen expires at the same time. What replaces it, and whether the conditions for shared electricity in apartment buildings change, should be checked with the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Ei) before you make a decision.

Free choice of electricity supplier. The EU Electricity Market Directive gives consumers the right to choose their electricity supplier. Ei has proposed that this should also apply in internal networks, which industry organisations for housing cooperatives and property owners have criticised. Follow the issue, as it may affect shared electricity as a model.

VAT. The Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) states that a cooperative billing members based on actual consumption must add VAT to the full amount, including portions relating to fixed costs. The cooperative may then in some cases deduct VAT on the electricity resold and on metering equipment, but not on electrical systems in buildings with only residential units. Check the arrangement with the financial manager or auditor.

The grid company. Contact the grid company early. Ask whether they accept the switch, which connection and subscription will apply, what it costs and how the apartments' subscriptions will be terminated.

The decision process in the cooperative

1. Pre-study. The board gathers consumption, current fixed fees per apartment and the grid company's price list. Calculate savings and payback period.
2. Legal and financial review. Read the bylaws. The annual fee must be calculated according to principles set out in the bylaws, and billing by consumption may require that the bylaws allow it. Amending the bylaws requires a general meeting decision. Get help from the property manager or a lawyer.
3. Information to members. Explain what changes: individual electricity contracts end, electricity is billed through the cooperative and members can no longer choose their supplier.
4. General meeting decision. Let the general meeting decide on the investment and the billing model. This gives legitimacy even if the board could formally decide on its own.
5. Procurement. Quotes for installation and metering, and a new supply contract for the full volume. See Electricity contracts for housing cooperatives.
6. Transition. Plan how members' existing contracts will be terminated. Fixed-term contracts may have termination conditions.

When does it pay off?

Shared electricity is usually most attractive when the cooperative has many apartments with low consumption, when the grid company's fixed fee per apartment is high and when the distribution boards are due for renovation anyway. It can also make charging points and solar panels easier, since the whole building's electricity passes through one connection. See Charging points in housing cooperatives.

It is less attractive if the cooperative is small, if the conversion is expensive or if the rules for internal networks change in a way that affects the model.

What you can do today

• Ask a few members to show their grid invoice and note the fixed fee per year.
• Multiply by the number of apartments. That is the ceiling for what the cooperative can save on the grid.
• Get the grid company's price list for the subscription the whole building would need.
• Ask the grid company in writing about the conditions for shared metering in your building.

Savera can produce an independent calculation for shared electricity based on the cooperative's consumption and the grid company's price list.