Solar on Rental: Landlord or Tenant pay Power bill?

Question

I am moving out of primary residence and will use it as a rental property. The power is currently rly in my name and has Solar PV installed. The monthly bill is usually $0 for the year. For those of you with solar do you advertise as utilities included or charge the tenants for power? It seems like such a waste to just hand over the power bill into their name where they have little or bill.

Frank Hinck · Answer

@Neil S.

I would say “electricity included, charged at $50/month” and keep it in your name.    That way you’re making your investment on the PV Panels back.

Percy Matsunaga · Answer

Account Closed

I have a property in CA with solar. The tenant is good and has been there for several years. I have the solar in my name and pay it as well. The solar payments are not much and I just believe since the tenant is already paying the other utilities I would just take care of this one. For me, it’s not worth change the lease for another $40-60

Account Closed · Answer

@Tanya F. That’s what I was thinking. Especially if they show up with two Tesla’s.

Tanya F. · Answer

I'm sure if they owned two teslas they'd pay the difference.

And if they do, you should switch to Time of Use metering and make them charge up at night.

Tanya F. · Answer

I would include electric in the rent, and write a usage allowance into the lease, say 400 kWh on average, and adjust quarterly if needed if tenant's usage is over that value.  You've lived there long enough to know how many kWh of monthly usage corresponds to the net 0$, right? You can also prohibit space heaters and similar things that would lead to high usage.

Alvin Sylvain · Answer

Surely electricity isn't the only utility? There's water, gas, trash collection, sewage, etc., depending on the jurisdiction, and some areas might consider cable TV an Internet as utilities.

We once looked at getting solar for our residence, but since we generally don't use much electricity, it didn't look very attractive. Then we saw the water and sewage bill -- two hundred something dollars! Yikes! I called the Solar guy back and asked him whether they had solar-powered sewage?

At any rate, I'd see it as a plus no matter who is paying for it. But, particularly for what used to be a  personal residence, I'd say you want the tenants to pay all the utilities regardless. Yes, electricity may be $0 now, but you never know what your tenants are going to do. With you paying it, they might consider it a challenge to bring the electric bill up to $20, $40 or more, and believe me it wouldn't be that difficult.

Is it one of those setups where the extra juice is charged back to the electric company? I.e., on really good days, they actually pay you? Think what a great incentive that would be for potential tenants!

But bottom line, yah, it may be a hassle, but I think it's worth it.

Solar on Rental: Landlord or Tenant pay Power bill?

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