# I pay my landlord for sub-metered electricity: is that still my Scope 2?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/sub-metered-electricity-rented-unit

Usually yes. If you run the unit and use the operational control approach, electricity measured on your sub-meter is your Scope 2, even though you pay the landlord and not the discom. Only under financial control or equity share with an operating lease does it move to Scope 3 Category 8.

## Why paying the landlord does not change the scope

Scope 2 covers electricity you buy and use in operations you control. The GHG Protocol does not ask who sends the invoice. A sub-meter in your unit measures your use directly, which is better evidence than many tenants have.

## What the landlord's invoice must show

If the invoice shows only a rupee amount, ask for the readings. As a stopgap, divide the amount by the per unit rate in your lease and label the result an estimate.

- Opening and closing sub-meter readings, or kWh for the period.
- The billing period.
- The rate per unit, if charged per kWh.
- Any common area charge shown separately; common area power is generally the landlord's, not yours.

## Market-based figure

If the landlord's estate has rooftop solar or a green tariff and says part of your power is renewable, you need evidence: the share, the period and a certificate or contract that is not also claimed by the landlord. Without that, your market-based figure uses the same grid electricity as the location-based one.

## Who else might count the same kWh

A landlord that reports would put electricity resold to tenants it does not control in its Category 13, downstream leased assets, not in its own Scope 2. Agree this with the landlord if both of you report to the same buyer.

## Worked example: one month from a landlord invoice

- Sub-meter: 12,400 to 15,100, so 2,700 kWh
- Charged at Rs 9.50 per kWh: 2,700 x 9.50 = Rs 25,650
- Emissions: 2,700 x 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh = 1,917 kg CO2, about 1.9 t, location-based Scope 2
- If only Rs 25,650 were shown: 25,650 / 9.50 = 2,700 kWh, labelled an estimate

## What Senseible does here

Senseible can read a landlord invoice that shows kWh and apply the India grid factor of 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh. If the invoice shows only a rupee amount with no units, it produces no figure until you supply the kWh.

- [Rented warehouse: Scope 2 or 3](https://senseible.earth/answers/rented-warehouse-electricity-scope-2-or-scope-3)
- [Leased factory emissions: which scope](https://senseible.earth/answers/leased-factory-emissions-which-scope)
- [Footprint from an electricity bill](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/how-to-calculate-carbon-footprint-electricity-bills)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance (2015)](https://ghgprotocol.org/scope-2-guidance), [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, Appendix F: leased assets](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-15.