I live in an apartment building. There are three other apartments.
All the windows were just replaced. In the month of DecemberI got a
$300 gas bill. I assumed that the heat was too high (the thermostat
was at 65 degrees) so I turned the heat OFF and resorted to a single
space heater which heats the apartment just fine. My January bill just
came and it was...

$300!

When I asked my neighbors what their bills were, they were all roughly
around $70. My bill alone was more than all three of theirs combined
and the heater wasn't even running.

When I inspected the meter in the basement I found that my hot water
heater was leaking a good bit of water. It's being replaced tomorrow.

My question is: could a leaking hot water heater cause a $300 gas bill?
And if it can is this something I can dispute with the gas company, or
should I with the landlord?