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December 1, 2006
Electric Meters?
I heard that new electric meters must now be installed on the outside of a house. I believed it because I’ve seen some beautiful facades marred by the meters and associated conduits.
I am concerned that if a buy a property that requires significant electrical upgrading, I might be forced to install an outside meter. Is this a legitimate concern? Any way to avoid this?
Thank you….
Comments
It all depends on which department you talk to. One department will send out an employee to unlock the existing basement meters and OK work for new/additional meter to happen in the basement. Then a different department pops up, says hold up, you have to put all you new meter outside the house, better start digging an expensive trench so you hook up the outside meter directly to underground street junctions.
Or course your mileage may vary depending on which of the multitudes of departments (that don't seem to talk to one another) you end up dealing with.
And then of course once the new meters are installed outside, know one mentions this to the meter reader, who totally misses that the meters are a few feet from the front door and leaves a 'you were not home so we couldn't read your meter' notice on the front door.
Ask questions, lots of questions, if your planning on upgrading or installing new electric meters.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 1, 2006 10:13 AM
I'm rewiring my entire house, please tell me I will not have to do that. Why can't we just call in the meter reading? That's acceptable.
Posted by: anon at December 1, 2006 12:08 PM
Huh. We had our entire house rewired this year, including ConEd redoing our primary service line, and no one ever mentioned anything about moving the meters outside.
Posted by: Tim at December 1, 2006 12:18 PM
I moved the meters outside. it's the best place for them. you never have to deal with the con-ed inspector. There are ways to do this that are very unobtrusive. What you see in the new construction is people cutting corners and ending up with the electical meter as the first thing one sees as they enter the house.
Posted by: anon at December 1, 2006 12:37 PM
coned replaced my meters with wireless remotely readable meters (no charge) and said that it was doing this in phases for all meters. I live in Clinton Hill and the meters are in the basement.
Posted by: lp at December 1, 2006 12:47 PM
Total bullshit! Don't let Con Ed bully you into putting the meters outside. They have no right to tell you where to put your meters.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 1, 2006 1:18 PM
My understanding is that while Con Edison generally does require new meters to be on the outside, there is an exception for Historic Districts.However, they'll give you a REALLY hard time even if your house IS in an HD designated by the NYCLPC.
Here's the text of an article in the December 2004 Lefferts Manor Echo about placement orf electric meters. While it is specifically about the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens Historic District, it could apply to ANY NYC Historic District (although I suspect Con Ed wouldn't try this sort of BS in Brooklyn Heights, Greenwich Village,or the Upper East Side):
"Electric Meters in Prospect Lefferts Gardens: Where to put them?
Although there are many advantages to living in a historic district, such as Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, there can also be some frustrations when trying to update your home, a home that is deemed a historic monument by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
If you live in a historic district, you most probably own a house that has reached its 100-year anniversary. A century old home most often requires some sort of utility upgrade, be it plumbing, electrical, or in today’s computer age, DSL or cable hook up. Either as a new homeowner or as an established long time resident, you may find yourself at some point or another interfacing with one of the city’s major utility companies. Unfortunately for the homeowner, many utility companies hold a monopoly for the service they provide. On the one hand, this bars any choice in the matter for the homeowner. On the other, you are at their mercy, or made to feel as if you are.
One sole company, ConEdison, provides electrical service in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. As a public utility, you may assume that ConEdison is up to date with all their records and findings. However, as of November 2004, a brief telephone conversation with a Brooklyn district manager proved that this was not the case. It was made clear during that conversation with ConEdison that they did not have Prospect-Lefferts Gardens listed as a historic district in any of their records or maps, a district that was designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1979. This makes any conversation with ConEdison regarding the historic status of your home nearly impossible.
When a ConEdison representative makes a statement regarding electrical service or compliance that they qualify as being a “requirement” you may find it difficult to argue with them, but know your rights. As upgrades are being made throughout the neighborhood, ConEdison’s bullying tactics are forcing homeowners to place electrical meters on the main elevation (front) of their homes. As a homeowner of a historic monument, you are eligible for certain exceptions. One such exception is that no one in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is required to put an electrical meter on the front of their house. However, ConEdison does require the homeowner to prove that their home is in fact historic. It’s not enough that there are street signs up and down the blocks designating the neighborhood as a historic district, or that there are landmark designated brown street signs on each corner. It’s also not enough to download the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s map showing the boundaries of the district. ConEdison requires an official signed document from the Landmarks Preservation Commission specifically stating that the actual building on your specific block and lot is itself a historic monument. This document can be obtained by faxing an official request to Doris Hernandez (Public Information Officer) at the Landmarks Preservation Commission. You will need to provide her with the address, borough, block and lot number of your house. Her contact information is as follows:
Phone- 212.669.7817
Fax- 212.669.7818
Email- dhernandez@lpc.nyc.gov
Please allow sufficient time to receive this letter, as they quote a two to three week wait.
No one should have to battle with a utility provider. Hopefully in the near future, ConEdison will update their maps and records and will have Prospect-Lefferts Gardens listed as a historic district, but until then, know your rights and be armed with the proper documentation".
Posted by: Bob Marvin at December 2, 2006 12:48 AM
BTW, that article was written by a Lefferts Manor homeowner who had a hell of a time avoiding an outside meter.Con Ed's practice in our neighborhood had been just what Anon 12:37 described for new construction--"cutting corners and ending up with the electical meter as the first thing one sees as they enter the house."
Posted by: Bob Marvin at December 2, 2006 1:04 AM
You can give con ed the key to the cellar. They have the key to five buildings I own. Why don't other people do this. And no con ed does not require meters outside.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 2, 2006 8:35 PM
Anon. 8:35,
That wouldn't work well for a single-family house without a separate entrance to the cellar. They HAVE been demanding outside meters (in my neighborhood at least) when houses have their electric service upgraded, despite the fact that they have no right to do so in designated Historic Districts. (I wonder if they even have such a right in non-HDs?)
Posted by: Bob Marvin at December 3, 2006 9:51 AM
I have a message from Con-Ed on my answering machine (which I haven't returned yet) stating that my remote-reader meter is defective and they want to replace it. I'm assuming they mean replace it with another remote reader. But I'm glad I read this before I made the call.
Posted by: Amy at December 3, 2006 5:56 PM
I renovated my basement and kitchen this past year and significantly altered and upgraded the electrical service. The GC and the sub contractors were all worried Con-Ed was going to be a pain, but in the end we didn't hear a peep from them. They did come and replace the old mechanical type meter with remote reader type, completely unscheduled, during the construction. I just went into the utility room one day and, boom, there was a new meter there. Not word from them though about moving it outside.
They'd have to move the gas meter too since they read that every month as well, along with the water meter, though that has a remote reader outside now.
We've gotten to be rather friendly with our ConEd meter readers, as they've figured out they can show up early in the day at the beginning of the month and wake us up. That's ok. They still have to step over our kitty litter boxes to read the meters.
Posted by: Peter at December 27, 2006 1:00 AM
It's 2008 and we're upgrading our electrical and live in historic PLG. Con-Ed is giving us a hard time and want the meters to go outside unless we have proof that it is in the PLG historic district. Bob is right in saying they will not accept a copy of the landmarks map or even a print-out from the DOB site stating landmarked status. Thanks to him pasting the past Echo article I will follow the advice and contact Doris, hopefully she's still there. thx Bob.
Posted by: guest at January 2, 2008 11:51 PM
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