Is my apartment responsible for my electricity bill? (lease, home)

[gedang]

Here is the story.
We have been living this apartment for 2 years and 4 months.
We usually had $35/mon for our electricity for 2 years and 1 months and suddenly from Mar 1st, it went to $246 for the Feb 15th ~ Mar 15th bill and $384 on Mar 15th ~ Apr 15th bill, totaling $630, and for the Apr 15th ~ May 15th, it will be another around $380, totaling around $1,000.
So, the first day we are noticed that we had high power bill was around Mar 17th ~ 18th.
So, after some research and thinking what to do, we decided to call NV Energy and ask the office we need someone to check our home on Apr 6th, and they came today, which is May 3th.
Of course we hurried them to send maintenance several times for that one month.
And finally, it turned out water heater has been leaking and maintenance will come tomorrow and repair whole water heater.
Right after meeting maintenance, I went to the office to talk about this problem and she told me I need to come see the manager type person who will be at the office on Monday.
So before meeting her, I want to know my rights and get some information. I already read my lease and it doesn't clearly state about this kind of question. It just says the costs of repairs caused by the normal wear and tear and the elements will be paid by the owner. So, I don't know about if the bills are considered as the costs or not. I just don't know...
Just give me useful real examples of you guys or advices, and I will really appreciate them.

[brokencrayola]

I live in an apartment now and I think if I had your situation the manager would say I owe the electric bill myself. The reason I say that is you are responsible to always know what is going on in your apartment. Any changes need to be investigated and any problems you find reported to the manager immediately. It took you a few months to do that it appears, so don't be surprised if they won't pay the bill.

[ddrhazy]

They won't reimburse you unless they are desperate. If my tenant allowed a problem to persist for 3.5 months I might consider evicting/terminating the lease. You're lucky the water heater didn't burst and flood the entire apartment causing $2k+ of damage.

[orca17]

The electric bill is yours. I'm a bit surprised that this elevated bill was allowed to run for three months before you had it investigated. A winter bill of over $200 would have had me on the phone to NV Energy right then.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by orca17

The electric bill is yours. I'm a bit surprised that this elevated bill was allowed to run for three months before you had it investigated. A winter bill of over $200 would have had me on the phone to NV Energy right then.

Why would that be? if the tenant pursued it with reasonable vigor i would think they met their duty. Offer to split it and if rebuffed take them to small claims court. Odds are you will make out.

[Capricorn_Resiliency]

Sounds like a case of negligence on the part of the tenant. Why didn't you say something when you 1st noticed the rate hike either to the landlord or the power company??