When building new, it is possible to design and build houses, and larger buildings, with a modest increase in up-front capital (10 - 15%) costs in comparison to the "normal/typical" minimum code build, which have resulting energy consumption 70%+ lower.  

I also see lifestyle inflation and a massive consumption mentality that further compromises any ability to save or invest adequately.  

In the US we are on a high consumption diet.

I would be careful about bumping the rent to include these services; tenants can get real careless with water consumption if they are essentially getting all they want for a fixed price. 

But I probably should have included in the contract that if they exceed the “average” utility consumption I oils charge then a fee.

I'm surprised how little info there is on this topic that's for the consumption of the non-techie out on the web.  

It's led me to discover home monitoring systems like Eyedro (for electricity) and Flo (for water), where apparently you can track usage and figure out the consumption for a separate unit like a mother-in-law suite.

I'm not sure the electric bill would be higher, as central heat & air is usually more energy consumptive than a window unit. 

I would also remind everyone that marijuana possession and consumption is still a federal offense so Landlords are well within their rights to ban it from their property.

I manage in Barstow Ca, I think the climate is similar to Arizona where you are, I install window swamp cooler, those guys cool up to 1200 square feet house very effectively n the power consumption is s no more than a typical appliance.