Is it fair for my roommate to not help out with the electricity bill?

Question

I have 3 roommates. Let's call them Elizabeth, Ann, and Tess. We live in a large, 2 story apartment with 1600 square feet and have individual leases. The apartment has very little insulation, so our energy bill is high during months that we have to turn on the a/c or the heat. We are all college students with tight budgets, so when we signed our leases, we believed that we would be able to afford the electric bill because we were splitting it four ways. Tess has recently moved back in with her parents, but she is still obligated to pay her rent until July. Elizabeth, Ann, and I think she should still be included in on the energy costs of the apartment, because she is technically still living there and we signed up on the pretense that the energy bill would be split up four ways. None of us can really afford an increase of $20/month, which is the cost we would absorb paying without Tess. Tess thinks it is not fair for us to ask her to pay it, because she doesn't use the energy.

Update:

What we are doing is NOT illegal because the leases are individual. Tess signed a lease with the apartment complex. She is obligated by the terms of her lease to pay rent every month until July 2012, just like the rest of us. The only way out of her obligation to the apartment complex is to sublease.

Update 2:

If she DID sublease her room, we wouldn't expect her to pay because there would be another person to split it with.

gabpaye · Accepted Answer

Ask the energy company how much would the bill come up to if nobody used the electricity, let say if all of you take vacation at the same time. Whatever that theorectical amount is, you can ask Tess to pay a quarter. 

Seriously, you need to have empathy. Would you pay the light bill if you traveled? Good if you have money to spare, but it's not a smart move. She's obligated to pay only the rent.

LILL · Answer

Forget the electric bill...what you are doing to "TESS" is illegal.

You do know that "TESS" is legally NOT responsible for rent until JULY.  You are legally responsible to find a replacement tenant to replace "TESS".  Most courts will only hold her to pay two months rent....you are obligated to mitigate your damages by find a new roommate.

Anonymous · Answer

Is it fair that some people are tall and others short? There is no one who can answer a question about fairness except you. You decide what you are willing to put up with. If you put up with it, then it's fair. If not, then no, it's not.

Paula Asfouri · Answer

If she is not physically living there, she is not obligated to pay the cost of utilities.

Robin · Answer

its not fair.

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Is it fair for my roommate to not help out with the electricity bill?

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