The landlord (your roommate) does have a duty to pay the utilities on time, and ensure that they remain on. What is not clear from your post is whether you rent a room from someone and s/he is not paying the utilities, or you rent a room from someone, and the landlord s/he rents from is not paying the utilities. If it is the later case - i.e., the person you rent from is not paying the utilities late, rather, his landlord is, then you may not be able to do anything. Unless the landlord approved your renting a room from his tenant, then you are probably an illegal tenant. Alternatively, if it is the person you rent from who is not paying the utilities on time, then you probably do have the right to do something. In that case, you can terminate any lease agreement you have for the roommates failure to pay the utilities, or you can pay the whole bill and then deduct from rent what you paid. DO NOT pay the bills and deduct without going through a very specific procedure and notices given to your landlord - you cannot lawfully deduct from your rent unless you follow the procedure in the law. Search "California Repair and Deduct" and you'll find the statute with the specific procedure you must follow.

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