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: In interpreting the federal housing law, HUD has defined the Total Resident Payment for "rent" to include both shelter and the costs for reasonable amounts of utilities. The amount that a PHA determines is necessary to cover the resident's reasonable utility costs is the utility allowance. Such allowances are estimates of the expenses associated with different types of utilities and their uses. The utilities for which allowances may be provided include electricity, natural gas, propane, fuel oil, wood or coal, and water and sewage service, as well as garbage collection. The functions, or end-uses, covered by an allowance may include space heating, water heating, cooling, refrigeration, lighting, or appliances. Allowances are not provided for telephone service. Utility allowances can be small or large, ranging from less than $10 to over $200 for a resident household per month, depending on the PHA, the number of utilities and uses covered, and the dwelling unit and/or household size. Whether a household receives an allowance for a given utility service generally depends on the way the utilities are metered. Utilities can be metered in one of three ways: master-metered, checkmetered, and individually metered.