Up until recently, only campgrounds and marinas could submeter electricity usage in Connecticut.
According to a July 22 press release from Fred Klein, a partner in the regulatory department at Bridgeport-based Pullman & Comley L.L.C., which also maintains offices in Stamford, Waterbury, Hartford and White Plains, N.Y., “that is all about to change.”
The state”™s Public Utilities Regulatory Agency on July 14 issued the technical specifications for new submeters that can micromanage electric bills in buildings where gross averages had held sway in billing.
Multiple-unit buildings in the past often used factors like square footage and number of appliances to gauge electric use. Such broad groupings offered little incentive to conserve, according to Klein, and at the same time, landlords were prohibited by law from submetering electricity to their tenants.
Under new regulations approved by the state Legislature last year, submetering will be allowed in buildings or campuses that are currently master-metered if it is likely to lead to energy conservation. But, all tenants in a single building or complex must be submetered.
Landlords may not make a profit on the energy bills.
“The calculation is designed to ensure that sub-metered parties pay for only their usage,” Klein said. “The cost of electricity provided to common areas, such as hallways and garages, will remain the responsibility of the landlord and must not be included in the tenants”™ electric bill.”
Landlords also will be subject to consumer protection rules, including prohibitions against termination of service, records retention policies, limitations on security deposit requirements, segregation of rental and electricity payment, and the need to develop written terms and conditions of service.
Recognizing that some landlords may have been submetering without prior approval, the utilities agency will accept applications for previously unauthorized submetered buildings.
