This is not passing along a cost. It is taking money out of one person's pocket and directly benefiting another person who has not paid. This is a lot differe

This is not passing along a cost. It is taking money out of one person's pocket and directly benefiting another person who has not paid. This is a lot different than paying the amortized/allocated cost of utility and all that is needed to run the utility. Paying people's bills for them when they do not pay is not necessary to run the utility. It generates no utility (in this case, electricity). A peaker plant generates utility, and it has associated costs. Businesses often pass on the costs of dealing with people who don't pay because it is efficient, not because it is right.