A Los Angeles City Council committee has canceled its planned Wednesday hearing on a proposal to ban Ratio Utility Billing Systems, a key cost-recovery and conservation tool used in older, master-metered rental housing.

At issue is a Los Angeles Housing Department recommendation to prohibit RUBS, a billing method used in older buildings where individual unit metering is not feasible. Under the system, utility costs are allocated across units based on a formula that accounts for unit size or occupancy, giving residents a direct financial incentive to reduce consumption. The proposal had been listed as Item 5 for the May 20 meeting of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee.

The California Apartment Association opposes the prohibition and is urging Los Angeles members to keep contacting committee members through CAA’s grassroots advocacy system. The association has raised concerns that the proposal was developed without direction from the City Council, without input from the housing provider community, and without a supporting economic or environmental impact analysis.

In a letter to the committee, CAA argued that the originating council motion called for transparency standards, not a ban, and that the housing department’s recommendation goes well beyond that direction.

RUBS is one of the few practical tools available in older buildings that cannot be individually submetered. Without it, housing providers would absorb rising utility costs with no mechanism to connect consumption to cost for residents, weakening a conservation incentive that the city’s own sustainability goals depend on.

A recent analysis of San José’s RUBS ban found water usage increased among affected apartment buildings after the prohibition took effect. San José is now considering whether to allow RUBS use again.

CAA supports stronger transparency standards so residents clearly understand how utility charges are calculated. The association’s position is that any policy change should be grounded in data, stakeholder input, and a full analysis of impacts on conservation, affordability, and housing operations, none of which accompanied the current recommendation.

CAA will share an update if the proposal is scheduled for a future meeting. In the meantime, members can continue contacting city officials through CAA’s grassroots advocacy system and may still submit written eComments through the city clerk’s office under Council File No. 22-0178.