Renters react after Ohio Supreme Court rules on submetering

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — An Ohio Supreme Court ruling could lead to some relief for Ohioans’ electric bill.

The court ruled that submetering companies must be regulated like all traditional utilities. Advocates say the move is a victory for customers who may have been stuck with high bills and few protections. 

Columbus renter Mitchell Bienvenue shared his experience on social media after receiving electric bills well over $300 for his two-bedroom apartment and couldn’t get a clear explanation as to why. 

“My parents live in a four-bedroom house down the street, and their bill was less than half of ours, and I thought that was wild,” Bienvenue said. “It got me questioning it. It got me looking into it.”

Bienvenue’s research led him to find out that his new apartment complex’s utilities are through a submetering company, American Power & Light. 

Submetering is the practice in which a third party buys electricity and gas from a public utility and resells it to consumers, often leading to unexplained higher costs and excessive fees. It’s a common practice at many apartments and condos. 

“I wasn’t told any of this before signing the lease,” Bienvenue said. “I don’t think it’s right that a submetering company can just charge whatever to apartment renters when they have no control and no say in what happens.”

The long-standing practice has gone unregulated, but the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision changes that. The ruling says the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has the authority to regulate submetering companies.

In this case, the court found that Nationwide Energy Partners (NEP) is subject to PUCO’s jurisdiction because “jurisdictional statute defines a public utility to include an entity ‘engaged in the business of supplying electricity … to consumers within this state,’” Justice Patrick DeWine wrote in the opinion. “The record in this case shows that NEP does exactly that.”

“The law is the law,” Maureen Willis, with the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, said. “If they’re providing essential utility service, they have to abide by that law and follow the rules.”

The Ohio Consumers’ Council applauded the decision. Willis says it gives critical protections to consumers, but there’s still work that needs to be done. 

“We’d like to see immediate compliance, and we’d like to see real oversight by the Public Utilities Commission,” Willis said. “That may take some time, but it is something that has been long overdue.”

State leaders plan to work with the PUCO to ensure the ruling is implemented and that submeter consumers get full protection as soon as possible.