Ask him to be let out of the lease and move might be the easiest cheapest thing for both sides.He might be broke and just can't do it.When the snow hits, unless you have a nice BIG electric heater, it's going to be very frosty, and then the pipes freeze and burst and you will have no indoor plumbing...

As the previous poster stated the line can freeze.

What about the ridges and starter courses, just regular shingles or special ones.Any water/freeze protection at the drip edge by both(???)

Utility companies normally let tenants get pretty far behind before the landlord is notified- if the utility company puts a lien on the property for unpaid bills, it is better to have closer control over the bills- If there is a water leak or other problem with the property, the tenant doesn't have to bear the costDisadvantages of having utilties in owner names:- If tenants start using a lot more water/power, it is more difficult to quickly adjust rent or get them to conserve- with pandemic or other freezes on rent or evictions, there is no recourse for utility increases- if the tenant qualifies for low income utility pricing, it has to be in their nameOnce you decide what your guiding principle is, you can align your current rental agreement to match.

Are you in the middle of a snow belt and it is freezing and snow and ice?

@Jay HinrichsSorry Jay, did I forget no income taxes or SNOW/frost heaving or pipe bursting freezing temps?

Could be those past bills were estimates and you now have an actual reading that “catches up” on past bills that were too low.Another thing is tenants running extension cords from hallway receptacles to run space heaters inside their units.If you have radiators, you want to keep heat on so that they do not have any potential for freezing up, but you don’t have to keep the temperature higher than say 60F.

But please, do elaborate on why in your vast experience and knowledge mounting an hvac system in your attic is a remotely good idea in any part of Canada that experiences winter (below freezing).

Due to Freeze, all contractors are backlog. 

and remember you will have to anti-freeze your system for winter months.