Submetering Companies Regulated as Utilities, Ohio Justices Say

A company that resells a utility’s electricity to multi-tenant buildings and charges each individual tenant must be treated the same as the utility by Ohio regulators, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

“Submetering” companies meet the definition of a public utility under state law and thus are regulated by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the justices unanimously said. The law giving the commission its power says a public utility is an entity that supplies electricity to Ohio consumers, Justice R. Patrick DeWine (R) wrote.

“The record in this case shows that NEP does exactly that,” DeWine said, referring ...