Gas Bill on Common Space

[Kavan Kucko]

Hi all,

    For a rental property I own, I have utilities separated out for the common space that I pay for as the landlord. The common space utilities are basically a few lightbulbs and a washer/dryer. The dryer is a gas dryer, and I believe it is the only thing in the common space that uses gas. As a result, the tenants use very little gas in the common areas, on the order of a few dollars a month. However, the way the gas company bills is that there is something like ~$50/mo fee just to be hooked up to the gas, and then you pay for your usage on top of that. So in effect, I'm paying more like $60/mo to use very little gas.

I was thinking of purchasing an electric dryer when I buy a new one, having an electrician set up the 220 outlet or whatever the dryer takes, and then shutting off the gas to the common space. Does anyone think this is a bad idea for any reason?

Thanks in advance!