June 10, 2008

Time of Use Electric Metering

Has anyone here participated or is currently enrolled in Con Edison's Time of Use program?
Is it working for you?
Are there hidden fees and what are the peak and off-peak KWH charges you've been seeing?

I am interested and considering enrolling in it.

April 18, 2008

Alternatives to Con Ed and Keyspan: Worth It?

Uh, first of all I want to warn anyone in Bed Stuy that IDT energy is coming around doing door-to-door bait-and-switch. Here are a couple of consumerist posts that explain what IDT is all about:

http://consumerist.com/consumer/idt-energy/

But you know, it got me thinking about whether it's worth it to look for a different energy supplier than Con Ed and Keyspan. Anyone else have a positive story to tell about switching suppliers?

March 27, 2008

Does anyone know a good person for running cable, telephone and computer wire through a house?

I'm looking for someone (dependable!!!) to run cable and telephone wire throughout the house. The problem is that I can't find anyone reliable for the work! Please help!

January 17, 2008

How much do you pay for Cablevision?

I have had DirectTV for years and am considering switch to cable. How much do you pay for basic programming or other packages? I was paying $47.99 plus $24 for HBO and Showtime.

October 15, 2007

solar water heater

has anyone installed a solar water heater system/tank in a brownstone? can the talk cost/price/effectiveness? or for that matter has anyone gone with photov tiles for energy/utilities on a brownstone here in BK?

October 3, 2007

Avg Heating/Gas for 1 Bedroom Brownstone

Howdy,

Curious if anyone has any solid info on what the Gas utility should run for a 1 bedroom flat in a brownstone. We live in a tight ground floor apt. which does not have a separate gas line so we have to hash out the gas utility w/ our landlord who lives on the other three floors which are not nearly so well insulated. Gas is for boiler, water heater and stove. Any feedback is appreciated.

July 17, 2007

Con Ed deposit, "letter of credit"?

We just bought and moved into a 3-family in Bed-Stuy and received a notice from Con Ed saying that we need to pay a $330 deposit for our electric service within 10 days. There is also the option of sending "bank letters of credit or surety bonds, which provide a level of security equivalent to cash." We are really stretched financially at the moment for obvious reasons, and would rather not shell out the $330 (which they'll hold on to for 3 years, they say). But I don't understand what the other options entail -- what does anyone know what these are and if they'll spare us from having to spend $330 for the privilege of having electricity? We've always paid our bills basically on time in our previous house....

A secondary, less important question is: are we being asked for this deposit because it's a three-family with higher usage than our previous home? I don't recall paying such a deposit when we owned a two-family.

Thanks for any help!

July 12, 2007

Alternative to Verizon?

I can't seem to get any service from Verizon. When I call, I get passed around to different departments and then the line mysteriously clicks and disconnects.

Is there any other LAND LINE alternative to Verizon? Or do they have a 100% monopoly? I need a land line phone service because cell phones don't work very well in my area (Ft Greene).

THANKS!

July 6, 2007

Shared Utilities

I want to convert a one family house to a two family. Do I need separate meters for gas and electricity for both units?

June 19, 2007

ConEd Billing Backlash

We moved into our brownstone about 6 months ago and were receiving electric bills that approximated $60 per month. We had one actual reading in February and then another earlier this month. Last week we received a corrected bill from ConEd for usage since February notifying us that we owed over $400 in back payments. When I called to inquire I was told that all of our previous readings had been estimated, as the previous owners had never granted ConEd access to the meter explaining why our estimated readings were so wildly off the mark. While I do not have a problem paying for my actual electricty usage, I do have a problem being charged retroactively for their own faulty billing practices. Does anyone have any experience with this type of situation and/or appealing to the Public Services Commission?

Forum: Utilities