Heat Metering
Heat Metering or Heat Cost Allocation is a new tool used by landlords to distribute the cost of heating an apartment building to each tenant using a measuring device selected by a third party service provider. Laurie is skeptical of this practise and has raised questions in Question Period and outside the Legislature.
We Win!!!
- We Win!!! The Minister of Service Alberta responded to tenant concerns of heat metering devices which I brought up in March of 2008.
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What is the Issue?
- Charging tenants individually for energy use can be a good way to promote energy conservation; however, without standards and regulations to ensure accurate measurement there is no protection for renters.
- There are serious concerns about the reliability of systems that measure individual tenants' energy use, especially in hot water-heated buildings in which a single pipe heats multiple units.
- Heat metering allows landlords to pass on to tenants the cost of old and inefficient heating systems, rather than upgrade them to more efficient systems. It removes the built-in incentive for landlords to ensure their buildings are as energy efficient as possible.
Timeline and Documents
- May 29, 2008: Question Period exchange in which Laurie first raised this issue in the Legislature
- June 6, 2008: Letter from Laurie following up with Yvonne Fritz, Minster of Housing and Urban Affairs
- June 6, 2008: Letter from Minister Fritz referring the issue to Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Service Alberta
- June 11, 2008: Letter from Minister Klimchuk responding to the original questions raised in Question Period
- July 10, 2008: Letter from Laurie to Stratacon Inc., a heat metering company, asking about the accuracy of their measuring system. No reply has been received to date.
Get Involved
- Are you concerned about heat metering in your building? Laurie would like to hear your story; please contact our office.
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