Landlords & Property Owners

If you would like your tenants to be responsible for paying for natural gas or electricity service at your rental property, the tenants must set up their own account by contacting DERS and providing their billing information. The tenant will be responsible for the charges during the term of their lease. As a landlord, you will be responsible for the charges if your tenant does not set up an account or when the tenant ends their account. You can set up a Premise Vacancy Agreement and Property Owner/Manager Authorization Form to ensure that service automatically goes back into your name when your tenant ends their service.

Your tenant is responsible for the charges they incur during the period that they hold a DERS account. Even if a tenant does not pay their DERS account, the charges will not be transferred to the landlord or property owner unless authorized by the property owner. In the case of a dispute between a tenant and a landlord, DERS may request proof of occupancy such as a lease agreement.

Payment of the DERS account is the responsibility of the account holder and any notices of disconnection will be addressed to the account holder. Therefore, if the account for the services at your rental property are in your tenant’s name, only your tenant will be notified of unpaid amounts and of a pending disconnection. Due to privacy laws, DERS is unable to release information to anyone that is not listed as a contact person on the account. Any notice of pending disconnection or notice of disconnection will be delivered to the mailing address for the service.

If a property is disconnected for non-payment, an owner can request DERS to transfer services into their name to have energy restored. However, the property owner will be responsible for any fees related to the reconnection of service.