The British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) has launched an inquiry into whether a utilities submetering company which operates in buildings managed by Village Gate Homes should be classified as a public utility and subject to more regulation.
The BCUC – which regulates utilities in the province – has received hundreds of letters from tenants across the province who live in buildings serviced by submetering company Enerpro, including several from Wesbrook. Those submissions detail a litany of complaints with a range of grievances, including unusually high bills, a lack of transparency regarding tariffs and rates, and service fees described as inexplicable and unnecessary.
Enerpro installs and monitors meters in rental units which track the consumption of utilities, usually heating and cooling, as well as hot and cold water. The company is contracted by property management companies.
In Wesbrook Place, their services have been retained by Village Gate Homes (VGH). In Wesbrook Place and other parts of the province, residential tenants have reported utility bills from Enerpro described as inexplicably high. The bills prepared by the company frequently charge $100-200 a month for minimal consumption, as many letters to the BCUC attest.
In documents available on the BCUC website, one Kelowna resident described being charged $160 a month, including $80 for the hot water required to shower three times a week and to do the laundry once.
In another document, a couple from Victoria described how their Enerpro bill rose without explanation from $113.76 for 834 kWh in December 2024 to $240.98 for 1,288 kWh in December 2025 – a 37 per cent increase. Many tenants have told the BCUC through its review process that it is financially prohibitive for them to turn on their heating during the winter.
Those expenses and others being charged by Enerpro are in addition to the separate monthly bills tenants receive from B.C. Hydro for all other household electricity usage.
Individuals living in buildings serviced by Enerpro have also said they pay noticeably more for the same volume of electricity as those served exclusively by Hydro B.C. One tenant said he paid Enerpro more for his 1,000 square-foot apartment than he paid B.C. Hydro to service a 4,000 square-foot house elsewhere in Vancouver.
Lack of clarity in billing
Enerpro has also been criticized for a perceived lack of transparency.
Unlike utilities bills prepared by B.C. Hydro or other providers, bills from Enerpro list neither the number of kilowatts of energy consumed, nor the rate charged per kilowatt of power. Instead, the company states the number of litres of water that were heated or cooled, and the final charge in each category. Customers said this makes it impossible to verify or understand how charges are calculated.
When asked by The Campus Resident, an Enerpro spokesperson said the rates “are not displayed on the invoices as it has been advised from historical discussions with BCUC that displaying rates implies an approval process of the rates has been completed.”
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Enerpro said tariffs and rates for electricity are determined by landlords. When asked about the rates for residential buildings in Wesbrook, both VGH and Enerpro said heating rates are based on Corix Utilities’ thermal energy costs, and cooling is based on B.C. Hydro’s residential electricity rate. Hot water consumption is linked to Corix Utilities’ thermal energy costs for heating, plus UBC’s metered water and sewer rates. Cold water charges are based on UBC’s metered water and sewer rates.
Residents who said they have asked Enerpro to explain the rates that they are charged said the company has presented them with numbers that are inaccurate to the numbers in their bills.
In one instance, Enerpro told tenants in Symphony, located at 3638 Wesbrook Mall, that the hot water rate was $0.0087/L. However, according to information included in their February 2025 bills, the residents discovered they were charged a higher rate of $0.0125.
Unexplained and excessive fees
Tenants in buildings serviced by Enerpro said they must pay a range of unexplained fees and service charges, described by many as excessive. Such fees reported by residents in VGH-operated buildings in Wesbrook Place include a requirement to pay a $26.25 account creation fee as a condition of signing a lease, as well as a $100 security deposit.
A monthly service charge also appears to be arbitrary according to some customers. Campus residents said they are being charged as much as $15.59 per month, while residential tenants elsewhere in Vancouver report paying as little as $7.80. Enerpro said the service charge is dependent on the number of meters installed in each unit, with tenants being charged $3.13 per meter.
Enepro, in its submissions to the BCUC where it has defended its current status as a company providing submetering services, and not a public utility, said it does not own any equipment since meters are owned by landlords and homeowners, so the fees charged do not contribute towards the maintenance of infrastructure. Similarly, their meter and billing system is described as largely automated. Enerpro told The Campus Resident the fees are only for meter reading, billing, and customer service. By comparison, B.C. Hydro includes a monthly basic charge of just over $7 to maintain billions of dollars in infrastructure.
A submission to the commission by the B.C. Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs addresses the collection of security deposits by agents acting on behalf of a landlord, such as Enerpro. According to the ministry, the Residential Tenacy Act (RTA) contains stipulations that may call into question Enerpro’s practice of requiring the payment of an additional security deposit, and apart what is already paid to utility providers such as B.C. Hydro.
The ministry added the Residential Tenancy Regulation (RTR) also limits the non-refundable, non-optional fees that landlords and their agents are permitted to charge tenants, and the mandatory service fees.
A number of residents said a BCUC ruling declaring Enerpro as a public utility and subject to greater regulation could lead to more clarity in billing practices, while placing additional scrutiny on fees currently charged to ratepayers.
The submission period for public comments on the BCUC review of Enerpro closed on February 20, with an announcement now expected on whether the matter will proceed to a public hearing.
ERIC WILKINSON IS A POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AT UBC. HIS REPORTING HAS APPEARED IN BRIARPATCH, CANADIAN DIMENSION, AND PEACE MAGAZINE, AMONG OTHER OUTLETS.