(g) "Third-party billing agent" means a person or entity, other than the property owner, that performs one or more utility management services at a shared-metered residential building on behalf of a landlord, including but not limited to installing submeters, reading submeters, or handling utility billing or collections, or both.
(h) "Utility provider" means a public utility, a municipal utility, a cooperative electric association, or a local municipal water company providing utility service.
(i) "Utility service" means natural gas, electricity, or water and sewer.
§
Subd. 2.Landlord is bill payer and customer of record.
(a) The landlord of a shared-metered residential building must be the bill payer responsible and must be the customer of record contracting with a utility provider for utility service. The landlord must advise the utility provider that the utility services apply to a shared-metered residential building.
(b) A landlord is prohibited from removing a directly metered tenant from the tenant's existing utility account or requesting that a utility remove the tenant from the tenant's existing utility account.
(c) This subdivision may not be waived by contract or otherwise.
§
Subd. 3.Submetering of electricity and natural gas.
A landlord who submeters natural gas or electricity (1) must comply with this section and sections 216B.022 and 216B.023, and (2) is subject to section 216B.024.
§
Subd. 4.Submetering of water.
(a) On or after January 1, 2025, any submeters installed by a landlord to measure water and sewer usage must comply with standards established by the local municipal water company for meters the company uses to measure water and sewer service provided to the company's customers.