Sharing electric bill with neighbors...

[SneakyStuff]

I live in a townhouse style home that has an identical home right next to it, they have seperate doors, and seperate addresses. I leased my house from June 08 until May 09, upon moving down I was the first of my roommates to live in the house and in the mailbox there was a $144 electric bill. I thought this was unusual since nobody was even living in our unit from June through August, then I realized there is only one watt-hour meter and we actually share the bill with our neighbors... The power company just divides the total energy usage up and mails two bills. I have never heard of this in my life, is this something I can complain about with the property management company I lease the house from or is it impossible to add another watt-hour meter?

 

[Brainonska511]

That's dumb. There should be two meters since they are two separate homes. It's not fair if your neighbor uses 80% of the electricity and then have the bill split 50-50. I'd complain to either the property manager and/or the electric company.

 

[mattocs]

Does it mention this in the lease? It is possible to add another box, but it might cost some money that your landlord does not want to spend.

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: mattocs
Does it mention this in the lease? It is possible to add another box, but it might cost some money that your landlord does not want to spend.

I didn't see this in the lease, then again... If it was there I don't really have a leg to stand on do I?

 

[mattocs]

If they say it in the lease, I doubt you could do a whole lot...you agreed to it. If it is not in there, you may be able to talk them out of letting you break the lease without penalty. I really doubt they will do much about it...unless it would be hard to find new tenants.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I've lived in large houses that had only had one meter and the utils were divided between the units....but it sounds like your situation should really have multiple boxes if there are separate physical address numbers.

It sucks because it forces you to be an overly nosey neighbor so usage doesn't go unchecked and you end up paying a disproportionate amount.

 

[andy04]

ur screwed... when does ur lease end... it happened to me once but it was only for the gas that would heat water.

 

[mattocs]

What happens when the neighbors don't pay the bill for a few months and they come to shut off the power?

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: mattocs
What happens when the neighbors don't pay the bill for a few months and they come to shut off the power?

I'll be posting from the library I suppose, this is a really great situation! I just realized my neighbors run their AC 24-7

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: SneakyStuff

Originally posted by: mattocs
What happens when the neighbors don't pay the bill for a few months and they come to shut off the power?

I'll be posting from the library I suppose, this is a really great situation! I just realized my neighbors run their AC 24-7

Running the AC 24/7 is ridiculous anyway even if you weren't sharing the meter. Running the AC all day increases the demand for electricity, driving up prices across the board.

 

[duragezic]

That is a load of crap!

An apartment I lived at didn't have separate water meters so the water was simply included in the rent. A split house I lived at didn't have separate water meters so the landlord averaged the two sides from the past year (result was $15 per person per month, which was basically what you'd pay anyway).

And that was water, which costs much much less and I think would be much less likely to fluctuate largely between months and tenants. Most people waste so much fucking electricity. And not being completely responsible for paying what you use (like in your situation), you can be sure your neighbors aren't going to care much about conserving.