In this subchapter:
- (1) "Apartment house" means one or more buildings containing two or more dwelling units rented primarily for nontransient use with rent paid at intervals of one week or longer.
- (2) "Apartment house owner" means the legal titleholder of an apartment house or an individual, firm, or corporation purporting to be the landlord of tenants in the apartment house.
- (3) "Central system utilities" means electricity and water consumed by and wastewater services related to a central air conditioning system, central heating system, central hot water system, or central chilled water system in an apartment house. The term does not include utilities directly consumed in a dwelling unit.
- (4) "Customer" means an individual, firm, or corporation in whose name a master meter is connected by a utility.
- (5) "Dwelling unit" means one or more rooms that are suitable for occupancy as a residence and that contain kitchen and bathroom facilities.
- (6) "Nonsubmetered master metered utility service" means an electric utility service that is master metered for an apartment house but is not submetered.
- (7) "Tenant" means a person who is entitled to occupy a dwelling unit in an apartment house to the exclusion of others and who is obligated to pay for the occupancy under a written or oral rental agreement.
- (8) "Utility" means a public, private, or member-owned utility that provides electricity, water, or wastewater service to an apartment house served by a master meter.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.