One More on National Grid Residential vs. Non-Res Accounts...

Hi folks… I know this has been discussed a couple of times, but my situation has a slight twist. I recently closed on a legal 3 family that has only one gas meter (all tenant util’s are included in their rent). They tell me I must open a non-residential account because of the ‘size of the meter’. I asked what the difference in rates was between the two types of service and the representative said the price of nat gas was the same for both. If that were the case then why would there be any distinction between customers/accounts at all? I didn’t press her any further because this was clearly a less than straightforward answer. I tried looking at the different rates provided on their website, but the residential rates posted for jan 11 don’t even conform to the bill I got from the same period at my current residence (same zip code). So, finally, here are my questions:

1) Anybody else faced this situation (ie, small residential multi-fam, one meter, non-res account)?

2) For those of you who are able to compare price per therm for res vs non-res–is the difference meaningful enough to justify having the place re-metered or fighting for an exception?

Thanks for any insights!