Title: Public Housing Energy Conservation Clearinghouse: Utility Allowances - HUD | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Headings: Utility Allowances
Utility Allowances
Background

Content: For this reason, individually metered utilities also are called "resident-paid" or "resident-purchased" utilities. The PHA provides a utility allowance to the household through a reduction in the household’s monthly rent. Many buildings have different metering systems for different utilities (sometimes referred to as “mixed metering”). For example, electricity might be individually metered, gas master-metered, and water checkmetered. An allowance also could be provided to residents for some non-metered utilities, such as trash pickup and sewer services, because the residents pay for these services directly. Individual meters generally are more common than checkmeters in public housing. However, metering configurations vary widely by region. For example, individual metering is more prevalent in the Northwest, whereas checkmetering is very common in the South. Allowances Are Calculated for Categories of Units
Utility consumption tends to vary according to certain characteristics of units, such as building construction type and size. To account for such factors, PHAs group dwelling units with similar characteristics into categories and calculate distinct allowances for each category.