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: As with master-metered utilities, the PHA pays utility company for utilities used. With checkmetered utilities, however, the PHA provides each household a utility allowance in the form of a maximum level of consumption that it may consume without a surcharge. A surcharge is applied when a household exceeds this level. Individually Metered Utilities. Where utilities are individually metered, each household has a separate account with the utility company and pays the bill directly to that company. 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.