{"data":{"id":"us-dc/d.c.-code-34-1552","jurisdiction":"us-dc","citation":"D.C. Code § 34-1552","heading":"Commission to promulgate rules, including standards.","body":"(a)\nThe Commission shall promulgate rules, including standards, under which any owner, operator, or manager of a building which is not individually metered for electricity or gas for each nonresidential rental unit may install submetering equipment or energy allocation equipment for the purpose of fairly allocating:\n(1)\nThe cost of electrical or gas consumption for each nonresidential rental unit; and\n(2)\nElectrical or gas demand and customer charges made by the utility and electricity and natural gas supplier.\n\n(b)\nIn addition to other appropriate safeguards for the tenant, the rules shall require that a building owner, operator, or manager:\n(1)\nShall not impose on the tenant any charges over and above the cost per kilowatt hour, cubic foot or therm, plus demand and customer charges, where applicable, which are charged by the utility company, the electricity supplier, and natural gas supplier to the building owner, operator, or manager, including any sales, local utility, or other taxes, if any; provided, that additional service charges permitted by § 34-1553 may be collected to pay administrative costs and billing; and\n(2)\nShall maintain adequate records regarding submetering and energy allocation equipment and shall make such records available for inspection by the Commission during reasonable business hours.\n\n(c)\n(1)\nFor the purposes of Commission enforcement of the rules adopted under this section, building owners, operators, or managers shall be treated as public utilities for the purposes of making a complaint under § 34-917 and any rules governing the making of complaints adopted under § 34-902.\n(2)\nAll submetering equipment shall be subject to the same rules, including standards, established by the Commission for accuracy, testing, and recordkeeping of meters installed by electric or gas utilities and shall be subject to the meter requirements of § 34-303.\n(3)\nAll energy allocation equipment shall be subject to rules, including standards established by the Commission to ensure that such systems result in a reasonable determination of energy use and the resulting costs for each nonresidential rental unit.\n(4)\nViolations of Commission rules and orders issued under this section shall be subject to the penalty provisions set forth in §§ 34-708 and 34-731.\n\n(d)\nIn implementing this section, no building owner, operator, or manager shall be considered a public utility engaged in the business of distributing or reselling electricity or gas except as provided in subsection (c) of this section. The building owner, operator, or manager may use submetering or energy allocation equipment solely to allocate the costs of electric or gas service fairly among the tenants using the building.","path":["Title 34. Public Utilities.","Chapter 15A. Installation of Submetering Equipment."],"source_url":"https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/34-1552","current_through":"2026-08-20 (D.C. Law 26-175)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-29T05:44:07Z","sha256":"3a49820d9fd121667c6e3df35b337304365b8be567756cbfe070f3ad8593164e","source_id":"us-dc","stale":false,"prev":"us-dc/d.c.-code-34-1551","next":"us-dc/d.c.-code-34-1553"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}