He's charging me $.30/kwh even though PG&E charges him $.21/kwh. Is that kosher?

What does your lease say? Perhaps he is averaging in the cost of service, the base rate you pay before you use a single watt.

What does the lease say? If it says he can and you signed it, then yes he can charge in accordance with the lease.

No mention of charges for utilities are listed in the lease, other than to say certain other utilities are included at no charge.

Holy cow! That's nearly double the cost per KwH here! With markup almost triple.

You must have multiple sources of electrical generation, as opposed to our hydroelectric-only power.

I would bring it to his attention.
How do you know what your landlord is paying per killowatt?

Understand, a landlords cost may be higher than if the service was separated per unit.

That seems to be the way it is in my area.

When I had my rental units electric split, the sum of the 2 bills was way lower than the previous single bill.

Utility was charging me a higher rate.

This seems odd to me. Why are the utilities not in your name if its your apartment?

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
You must have multiple sources of electrical generation, as opposed to our hydroelectric-only power.

Coal, Oil, Natural Gas, Trash, Nuclear, Hydro, Biomass. You Californians don't seem very inclusive.

His place, his rules. You can stay or find another place. In a general sense.

Whether is the right thing for him to do. Again, that is his decision.

You are making a lot of assumptions if you have not sen his bill.

PG&E has different rate plans.

One is 3 tiers:

Tier 1 baseline rate.

Tier 2 baseline plus 101% up to 400% surcharge

Tier 3 baseline plus greater than 400% surcharge.

The more you use the more you pay.

Baseline changes by the season.

He may be averaging seasonal rates.

If you have questions ask to see the bill.

https://www.pge.com/en_US/resi...ered-base-plan.page?

Or he may be in a higher fixed rate plan.

Again the rate may be based on usage.

Without seeing the bill you have no idea of his billing rate.

Call the California Public Utilities Commission and ask them. Every state has different utility regulation. Make sure you tell them your Landlord maintains the Utilities in his or his business's name. Is the 9 cent per kwh upcharge listed as some kind of convenience fee? You will want to know the answer to that question before you make the call to the CA PUC.

He will also have taxes and fees to pay...

He also may be paying at commercial rate. Some places you do if multi-unit on one bill.

Does he actually meter your use?

If I recall that is not the only issue you have with your current rental. I would speak with him and review your written lease. Everything is negotiable I suppose.

How does he know how many KWHr to charge you?

Is the intent to share the bill equitably by use or just equally across a number of people?

Either way, seems like a single is not relevant given tiered rate systems.

I live in a cottage on his property. It's got a separate meter for the electrical. I'll have to do more research, though it seems rather negligible. Maybe I'll just drop it.

quote:

I live in a cottage on his property. It's got a separate meter for the electrical. I'll have to do more research, though it seems rather negligible. Maybe I'll just drop it.

Yeah sometimes that makes sense. You can always use it as a negotiating tool to get some other improvements taken care of. I rent my office space and these issues are frequent. I can change out the ballasts for the light myself and some other stuff, but if the AC breaks down I expect him to take care of that immediately. At that time if he balks I bring up the other costs that I am taking care of and not bothering him about. Good luck hope it works out.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
No mention of charges for utilities are listed in the lease, other than to say certain other utilities are included at no charge.

I believe since it is a contract of adhesion (you have no say in what goes into the lease) then you are given the benefit of the doubt for items left out of the lease. I would contact an expert on the matter in your state.

Or just refuse to pay the markup and see what he does.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
I live in a cottage on his property. It's got a separate meter for the electrical. I'll have to do more research, though it seems rather negligible. Maybe I'll just drop it.

Well if his normal house uses all of the alloted cheaper rate of electric, then you would be using above that at the higher per killowatt hour rate. Sounds like you agreed to $0.30 a KWH when you signed the lease, so kind of hard to dispute that now.

Innaddition to the Kwh charge we have to pay a seperate "lines fee" to our utility company for maintenance to infrastructure. It's around $10/ month. Maybe there's a similar charge in your area?