Rental properties
Managing BC Hydro accounts for your rental properties is easy
If you're a business owner, property manager or landlord, you have two options that can help make managing BC Hydro accounts at your properties more convenient.
Conveniently manage accounts with a Rental Premise Agreement
If your tenants pay BC Hydro directly for their electricity service, you should apply for a Rental Premise Agreement. It will make account changes related to move-ins and move-outs for your managed properties more convenient, and will ensure electricity remains on between tenants.
If you don’t have a Rental Premise Agreement, when a tenant notifies BC Hydro that they are moving out of a property and there’s no pending move-in application, the electricity at that property will be disconnected. Having a signed agreement on file will automatically transfer the BC Hydro account into your name when a tenant moves out, rather than the service being disconnected.
Benefits of a Rental Service Agreement:
- Avoiding the inconvenience of a service disconnection between tenants.
- Automatic transfer of the account to the agreement holder.
- Avoiding any fees associated with reconnecting the electricity at a property.
- Keeping the electricity on for any renovations or upgrades being made to a property between tenants.
How the move-out/move-in process works when Rental Premise Agreement is in place:
- Tenant notifies BC Hydro of their pending move-out. This can be done up to 60 days before their move-in date.
- Once the tenant moves out, if an application for electricity service at the property is not received within 16 days, the Rental Premise Agreement will take effect and the agreement holder becomes responsible for payments associated with the account.
- When a new tenant is set to move in to the property, the tenant notifies BC Hydro of their move-in date at least a week in advance.
- On the tenant’s move-in date, the account is automatically transferred from the agreement holder’s name to the new tenant’s name, and the tenant becomes responsible for the account.
Note that once you have an agreement in place, it’s important for a tenant moving in to one of your properties to notify BC Hydro well before their move-in date so the account can transferred to their name. Tenants can do this online or by calling our customer service team at 1 800 BC HYDRO. If notice of a move-in is not provided, the account will remain in your name.
Get in touch
If you need to make changes to an existing Rental Premise Agreement or change a mailing address for an account, please get in touch with our customer service team.
- Customer service: 1 800 BC HYDRO or 604 224 9376
- Hours of operation are Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.