WHEREAS, PECO is a privately-owned company providing electricity and natural gas to residential customers in the City of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) and the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) are municipally-owned utility companies providing natural gas and water to residential customers in the City of Philadelphia, respectively; and
WHEREAS, A property owner is any owner, including an individual or corporate entity, of an apartment or residential property in the City of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Many renters in Philadelphia have unexpectedly high utility costs, which can be a tremendous financial burden; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia utility companies, while adhering to any privacy policies, should implement best practices that make past energy usage reports easily accessible to property owners; and
WHEREAS, Other municipalities such as Minneapolis, Minnesota, have required property owners “to provide information about past energy use to prospective renters when they apply for housing”; and
WHEREAS, Without easy access to such information, property owners may have difficulty adhering to such a requirement if enacted in the City of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS; Access to information about past energy use will (1) equip prospective renters to make informed decisions about housing based on affordability, and (2) incentivize property owners to make improvements to the energy efficiency of their dwellings; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby call on PECO, Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), and the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) to make information about residential energy use and energy costs easily accessible for property owners in the City of Philadelphia.
End