Utilities Clause
in Your Lease
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Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Pennsylvania law says, what's specific to Philadelphia - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- The utility must warn every affected tenant at least 30 days before a shutoff over the landlord's unpaid bill.
- The landlord gets at least 37 days of notice under the same Act, 68 P.S. § 399.11.
- You can pay the utility the landlord's last 30-day bill and deduct every dollar from rent.
- Retaliation for using those rights costs the landlord two months' rent or actual damages, whichever is greater.
- Philadelphia Code § 9-1605 adds punitive damages up to $2,000 per violation for interfering with utilities.
Count it for your dates
30 days before: the last day to act
What it means: The utility must have notified every affected tenant by this date, at least 30 days before service is cut. Applies to the utility, when service is to be cut off for a landlord's unpaid bill; the landlord must be notified at least 37 days ahead (68 P.S. § 399.11). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: After you pay the utility the landlord's last 30-day bill to keep service on
Notice that you paid the utility and are deducting it
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Understanding the Utilities Clause
This page is for Philadelphia renters reading the utilities paragraph of a lease, or holding a shutoff notice right now. The clause says who pays for gas, electricity, water, sewer and trash, and whose name is on each account.
That second part matters most. When an account stays in the landlord's name, his unpaid balance can reach your unit.
Pennsylvania answers with advance notice and a way to keep the service on yourself. Philadelphia adds a penalty for a landlord who interferes with it.
What renters assume
If my landlord doesn't pay the gas bill, that is between him and PGW, and I will only find out when the heat goes off.
What is actually true
Pennsylvania puts you in the loop. Before a shutoff over the landlord's unpaid bill, the utility must warn every affected tenant at least 30 days ahead, and you can pay that bill yourself and take it off your rent.
Pennsylvania is the outlier on this chart. There's no flat statewide fine for a landlord who yanks the meter - no Colorado $5,000, no Texas $1,000 plus a month's rent - and the state's two months' rent figure attaches to retaliation, not to the shutoff itself. That's exactly why Philadelphia's $2,000 per violation carries the weight here.
Utilities Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Philadelphia, PA
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
Under any allocation method, [the tenant] may be paying for part of the utility usage in common areas or in other residential units as well as administrative fees.
Quoted from the published opinion in Northland Investment Corp. v. Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, 349 Conn. 35 (2024). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“[the tenant] may be paying”
The bracket around the tenant is the court's alteration, not the lease's own wording, and “may be” is the only honest phrase available: nobody can tell from an allocated statement how much of the charge was actually theirs. In Philadelphia that uncertainty runs into a statute built for the same building: when the landlord holds the account and lets it go unpaid, the Utility Service Tenants Rights Act gives every affected tenant notice and a way to keep the service on without moving out.
“the utility usage”
Usage is the word doing the least work in this sentence. Under a formula what you buy is a slice of a building total, and in Connecticut Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-262e (c) was enough to void that, because it makes the owner liable for the costs of everything furnished to the building except what is individually metered. Pennsylvania's Act does not go there. It regulates what happens when the bill behind that total goes unpaid.
See the example
“in common areas or in other residential units”
Two categories of consumption you cannot influence and cannot audit. The Connecticut court treated them as the proof that an allocated tenant is paying for usage that was never exclusively theirs. Philadelphia comes at the same clause from the other direction: whatever the split says, a landlord who interferes with electricity, gas, hot or cold water, heat or telephone service has carried out an illegal self-help eviction under Code § 9-1602.
See the example
“as well as administrative fees”
The fee for doing the dividing. In the Connecticut lease those fees were not defined or limited anywhere in the document, which is exactly what to check for here. The Utility Service Tenants Rights Act is about something else entirely - the landlord's own unpaid master bill - and it sets no flat dollar penalty for a landlord who physically cuts the service. The leverage sits elsewhere: two months' rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees, against a landlord who threatens or retaliates against a tenant for using the Act's rights.
Ratio utility billing lost. The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority's ruling that billing residential tenants a formula-derived share of a master-metered bill is unlawful. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-262e (c) makes the owner of a multiunit residential dwelling liable for the costs of all utility services furnished to the building, except service that is individually metered or billed for one unit's exclusive use - and an allocated share is neither. Because the clause charged the tenant for usage the tenant did not exclusively consume, and backed the charge with late fees and eviction, it could not be enforced. The court left the landlord one lawful route: forecast the year's utility costs and build them into fixed rent at signing, where a renter can see the number before agreeing to it. Three justices dissented. The court also observed that the administrative fees this lease allowed were not defined or limited anywhere in it.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Pennsylvania Law on Utilities Clause
- Before service is cut off for a landlord's unpaid bill, the utility must notify the landlord at least 37 days ahead and every affected tenant at least 30 days ahead.
- Tenants can keep the service on by paying the utility the landlord's last 30-day bill directly, then deducting every dollar paid from their rent.
- A landlord who threatens or retaliates against a tenant for using those rights owes two months' rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees.
- The Pennsylvania sections we read set no flat dollar penalty for a landlord who physically cuts the utilities - that is an unlawful self-help eviction, because only a sheriff or court-appointed landlord-tenant officer may execute a judgment for possession.
Sources include 68 P.S. § 399.11 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Pennsylvania's Utility Service Tenants Rights Act, 68 P.S. § 399.11, covers a shutoff over the landlord's unpaid bill:
- Notice. Before service is cut off for the landlord's unpaid bill, the utility must notify the landlord at least 37 days ahead and every affected tenant at least 30 days ahead.
- Pay and deduct. You can keep the service on by paying the utility the landlord's last 30-day bill directly, then deducting every dollar paid from your rent.
- Retaliation. A landlord who threatens or retaliates against you for using those rights owes two months' rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees.
The Pennsylvania sections we read set no flat dollar penalty for a landlord who physically cuts the utilities. That is an unlawful self-help eviction, because only a sheriff or a court-appointed landlord-tenant officer may execute a judgment for possession.
What's Specific to Philadelphia
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Philadelphia adds its own rule. Code § 9-1602 counts interfering with electricity, gas, hot or cold water, heat or telephone service as an illegal self-help eviction, and § 9-1605 lets you recover actual damages, attorney's fees and punitive damages up to $2,000 per violation.
PGW, PECO and Water Department accounts can stay in the owner's name, so ask who holds each one before you sign and get the answer written into the lease.
It should list gas, electric, water, sewer and trash and say who pays each. A vague 'tenant pays utilities' is where surprise bills start.
Better if it is. An account left in the landlord's name is the one his unpaid bill can put at risk.
Red flag. Interfering with gas, electricity, water, heat or phone service is an illegal self-help eviction under Philadelphia Code § 9-1602.
Ask how the bill is split, and get the meter that serves your unit named in the lease before you sign.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- 68 P.S. § 399.11, read on codes.findlaw.com. Pennsylvania publishes the official text at www.palegis.us. FindLaw marks its copy of this section current as of January 1, 2026.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Lease waives the pay-and-deduct right
A clause saying you won't pay the utility or deduct from rent runs into 68 P.S. § 399.11. The Act gives that remedy to tenants.
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'Tenant pays all utilities'
No list, no amounts. Ask for gas, electric, water, sewer and trash to be named separately, so you know which bills are yours.
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Shutoff threat over late rent
A lease reserving the right to cut heat or power for unpaid rent describes an illegal self-help eviction in Philadelphia (§ 9-1602).
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Landlord bills you, no meter
If the bill comes from your property manager instead of PECO or PGW, ask how it is split and ask to see the master bill.
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No answer on who holds accounts
When the account stays in the landlord's name, his unpaid balance becomes your problem. Ask before signing.
Your Rights as a Philadelphia Tenant
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Thirty days of advance warning
The utility must notify every affected tenant at least 30 days before cutting service over a landlord's unpaid bill, and the landlord 37 days ahead.
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Pay direct, deduct from rent
You can keep service on by paying the utility the landlord's last 30-day bill, then deducting every dollar you paid from rent.
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Two months' rent for retaliation
A landlord who threatens or retaliates against you for using those rights owes two months' rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney's fees.
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Philadelphia's punitive damages
Code § 9-1605 lets you recover actual damages, attorney's fees and punitive damages up to $2,000 per violation when a landlord interferes with your utilities.
What To Do - Step by Step
Write down when it stopped
Photograph the meter, the cold radiator or the dry tap, and note the exact date and time service stopped.
Call PGW, PECO or Water
Ask who requested the shutoff and why. A shutoff over the landlord's unpaid bill and one the landlord caused lead to different rules.
Pay the landlord's last bill
If his unpaid bill is the cause, pay the utility the landlord's last 30-day bill under 68 P.S. § 399.11 to keep service on.
Send a written notice
Dated email or letter: ask for service to be restored and say you are deducting what you paid the utility from rent. Keep proof you sent it.
File a 311 complaint
Philadelphia's 311 line routes utility complaints to Licenses and Inspections. Your service request number is dated proof later.
Sue in Municipal Court
Philadelphia Municipal Court hears landlord-tenant claims. Ask for actual damages, attorney's fees and punitive damages under Code § 9-1605.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Utilities rules near Pennsylvania
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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