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Texas Submetering Rules: What Your Landlord Can Charge
Updated on September 9, 2026
Under Texas submetering rules, your landlord may submeter your electricity but may not charge you more than the retail electric provider or utility bills the property. Common-area electricity is the owner’s responsibility and can never be passed to tenants. Late penalties are capped at 5%, once. Submetered billing must be separate from rent. These rules live in 16 Texas Administrative Code §25.142, and your landlord must give you a copy at lease signing.
Last verified: 23 August 2026.
TL;DR — Texas submetering rules
- No charge above cost — nothing over what the REP or utility bills the owner.
- Common areas are the owner’s — hallway and pool electricity can never hit your bill.
- 5% late penalty, once — and only if your written lease provides for it.
- Three-day reading rule — submeters read within three days of the master meter.
- Six-month back-billing limit — rebuttable only by owner records.
- Disconnection for unpaid rent is illegal — with real, collectable remedies.
What the Texas submetering rules actually say
Every operative Texas submetering limit in 16 TAC §25.142, quoted, with its citation:
| Rule | What the rule says | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| No charge above cost | “The owner shall not impose any extra charges on the tenant over and above those charges which are billed by the retail electric provider or utility to the owner.” | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Common areas | “Utility consumption at all common facilities will be the responsibility of the owner and not of the tenant.” | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Late penalty | “A one-time penalty not to exceed 5.0% may be made on delinquent accounts” — requires a written lease provision | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Meter reading | “The submeters shall be read within three days of the scheduled reading date of the electric utility’s master meter.” | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Back-billing | Limited to six months “unless the owner can produce records to identify and justify the additional amount” | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Underbilling ≥ $50 | “the owner shall offer to the tenant a deferred payment plan option, for the same length of time as that of the underbilling” | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Records | Current month plus 12 prior; tenant may inspect during business hours | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Separate from rent | Submetered billing must not be bundled into rent | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Copy of the rule | Owner must give the tenant a copy, or a PUCT-approved summary, at lease signing | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| PUCT registration | Required before billing tenants | 16 TAC §25.142 |
| Equipment | Must meet PUC accuracy and Chapter 38 Subchapter C testing rules | Tex. Util. Code §184.013 |
| Rent-increase clawback | Raising rent within 90 days before installing submeters triggers a remedy | Tex. Util. Code §184.013 |
Your landlord cannot cut off your power over unpaid rent
Texas Property Code §92.008(b): “A landlord may not interrupt or cause the interruption of water, wastewater, gas, or electric service furnished to a tenant by the landlord as an incident of the tenancy or by other agreement unless the interruption results from bona fide repairs, construction, or an emergency.”
Remedies: actual damages, one month’s rent plus $1,000, attorney’s fees and costs. This is the most enforceable right in the whole Texas set and the least known.
How Texas submetering compares to other states
Texas submetering sits at one end of the national spectrum. Massachusetts bans residential electric submetering outright as unlawful resale. New York and Maryland require regulator approval before a landlord can submeter at all. Illinois caps the building total at the utility’s bill, and Delaware caps charges at actual cost — but neither spells out reading schedules, back-billing windows or record rights the way 16 TAC §25.142 does.
That is what makes the Texas submetering rulebook the most prescriptive in the country: it doesn’t just say “no markup,” it defines the operational details — when meters are read, how far back a catch-up bill can reach, what records you can demand, and what a late fee can be. Ohio, by contrast, spent 2026 fighting over whether submetering resellers are regulated at all. For the full national picture, see apartment submetering laws by state.
Submetering vs. allocation — which one are you on?
Definition
16 TAC §25.142 covers submetering — actual measured usage. 16 TAC §25.141 — titled “Central System or Non-Submetered Master Metered Utilities” — covers buildings where charges are allocated by square footage or metered-usage percentage rather than measured. Different rule, different rights. Check your lease for which one applies; the word “allocated” is the tell.
The distinction matters because the Texas submetering protections above — the no-markup rule, the reading schedule, the back-billing window — attach to measured billing under §25.142. If your lease says your share is “allocated,” you are under §25.141’s central-system rules instead, and the first thing to check is that the allocation method is stated in writing and applied consistently. Either way, the building’s total charges still cannot exceed what the provider billed the property.
Who enforces Texas submetering rules?
The Public Utility Commission of Texas. Owners must register with the PUCT before billing tenants for submetered electricity, submetering equipment must meet the PUC’s accuracy and testing standards under Chapter 38, Subchapter C, and the owner must hand every tenant a copy of the rule — or the PUCT-approved summary — at lease signing. Texas Utilities Code §184.013 adds the rent-increase clawback: raising rent within 90 days before installing submeters triggers a remedy.
In practice, most Texas submetering disputes resolve between owner and tenant once the records come out — that is why the inspection right matters most. When they don’t, the PUCT is the enforcement backstop for §25.142, and the Property Code’s §92.008 remedies run through the courts.
What you give up by being submetered in a deregulated state
The other side of Texas submetering: the retail electricity contract belongs to the property, not to you. You cannot shop the Texas competitive market, you cannot choose a fixed-rate plan by reading the Electricity Facts Label, and you cannot switch providers when rates move. That is a real cost that never appears on the bill.
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How to challenge a submetered bill in Texas
- Request the 13 months of records you’re entitled to inspect.
- Compare the building’s total charges against the master bill from the REP or utility. The total cannot exceed it.
- Check whether common-area consumption has been included. It cannot be.
- Check the late fee — 5%, once, and only if your lease says so.
- Check the back-billing window if you’ve been hit with a catch-up charge.
- Escalate to the PUCT, which enforces §25.142.
Texas submetering FAQ
Can my Texas landlord profit on my electricity?
The rule bars any charge “over and above those charges which are billed by the retail electric provider or utility to the owner.” Functionally, there is no room for profit on the electricity itself — your bill is a pass-through of the building’s actual cost.
What is the 5% rule?
A one-time late penalty of no more than 5% on a delinquent submetered account — and only if your written lease provides for it. Repeated or larger late fees on the same bill are not permitted.
Can my landlord bill me for hallway or pool lighting?
No. Under §25.142, utility consumption at all common facilities is the responsibility of the owner, not the tenant. Common-area electricity can never appear in a submetered bill.
Can my landlord shut off my power for unpaid rent?
No. Texas Property Code §92.008(b) prohibits interrupting utility service furnished as an incident of the tenancy except for bona fide repairs, construction or an emergency. Remedies include actual damages, one month’s rent plus $1,000, and attorney’s fees.
Can I choose my own provider if I’m submetered?
No. The retail contract belongs to the property, so the landlord chooses the provider and plan. You gain the no-markup protection but lose access to the competitive market — usage, and your next lease, are the levers you keep.
Who enforces Texas submetering rules?
The Public Utility Commission of Texas. Owners must register with the PUCT before billing tenants, equipment must meet PUC accuracy standards, and tenants must receive a copy of the rule at lease signing. Service-interruption violations carry court remedies under Texas Property Code §92.008.
Texas submetering has the most prescriptive rulebook in the country — and it only protects tenants who know the numbers to check. Start with the master bill, and work down the list above.
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Keep going
- Apartment submetering laws by state — the full national picture
- Texas electricity rates — what direct-metered customers pay
- Houston electricity rates — the biggest submetered market
- How to switch electricity providers in Texas — if you’re direct-metered
- Texas electricity delivery charges — the other half of your bill
- Texas deregulated energy hub — how choice works in Texas
