Not really uncommon if you're renting in a house that's been split up to several rental units. I've mostly seen it with water, but gas and electric service can be done that way too.

Yea, it's usually when things weren't set up properly to be a rental. It's painful for the landlord because then people don't pay attention to usage, and they're assuming extra liability for someone who might run up the bill and then skip.

it's common in college dorms. It is also usually against the law for a landlord to charge for electricity unless each unit has an individual meter. So if they are subdividing a house into multiple units it may not be economical to install per unit meters. In cases like that electricity is included.

One of my college apartments in California was like that. But I've never seen it anywhere else. On the other hand, I've never had to pay my own water bill in an apartment -- only power and gas.

Besides, there's no way it's really free -- it's accounted for in the monthly rent. If you use less power than average, you are probably better off paying for it yourself.

Electricity is rather cheap in Washington because we have plentiful hydro power from the Grand Coulee Dam. See: http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/204.htm

It can be rather common when a unit isn't in high demand.