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Columbus committee reviews revised draft to regulate utility resellers, emphasizes transparency and enforcement
Summary
A council committee reviewed a substantially revised draft ordinance to regulate utility reselling and submetering in Columbus. The proposal would cap certain fees, require billing transparency, and focus initial enforcement on multifamily housing; interested‑party input and coordination with state rules were emphasized.
Council Member Weiss, chairing a Columbus City Council hearing on utility reselling, said the committee would review a revised ordinance intended to allow third‑party resellers to continue operating while increasing protections for tenants.
The ordinance draft presented by Tanisha Pruitt, legislative analyst with the council's Legislative Research Office, would require resellers and property owners who bill tenants for utility service to keep rates at or below what the regulated utility would have charged, impose billing‑transparency requirements, and include enforcement provisions, Pruitt said. "We want to regulate how they're being billed. We want to require utility cost transparency," Pruitt said during the presentation.
Why it matters: Council staff and witnesses said tenants billed through submetering or by third parties can pay substantially more, lack itemized bills, and may be ineligible for some assistance without itemized charges. The draft identifies multifamily properties as the primary focus and proposes a…
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