October 27, 2009

Gas Leak

I had an energy audit done yesterday and as part of that they have to check boiler, gas lines, stove, etc for CO, incomplete combustion, and gas leaks. They found two small gas leaks, one at the main shutoff valve, and one at a joint. Both of these are before the meter.

If you put your nose right up to the main valve, you can smell it a bit, the other you can't smell at all. There is no smell at all in the enclosed room where these leaks are so they are tiny. For all I know they've been leaking for twenty years.

I know I should call NG and get them taken care of but I'm worried about my service being shut off for some amount of time. Anyone have experience with a similar situation?

October 16, 2009

ConEd newbie bill question

I saw a similar post on this topic but it didn't quite address my question - so here goes:

I just moved to Park Slope from MN last month and received our first ConEd bill. We live in a smaller 1BR studio and my jaw hit the floor when I opened up and read the bill was for $129.13. OUCH. $32 was from our last bill which is fine. But $100 for one month of electricity seems a bit ridiculos to me. We're very conscientious of turning lights off and things like that. Before calling them to ask about it I'd like to get some input from people on the user end who may have experienced the same issue/concern.

Here's the breakdown of the bill for this month:

Previous month's charges = $31.72.

Supply charges = $39.13. That's fine... I understand that part. Now onto the good stuff:

Delivery Charges = $50.91 (Basic service charge: $14.65 + Delivery 356 kWh @8.88624¢/kWh $31.55)

Can someone explain in plain English what the delivery charge is all about - am I going to be paying this extra $45 every month? Does that seem wrong or is this one of those many "Welcome to NY!" surprises?

ConEdison & two meter building

Here's one for folks. We have a two family brownstone which has a seperate meter for the rental floor. With our current tennant moving out I have transferred the bill into my name. Con Edison now deem this a commercial bill and charge a higher rate. I challenged them on this that it was all the same building but thems the rules allegedly. The weird thing is, if I were to convert to a single meter for the house the bill would all be back to residential rate. The rate would also change back to residential when and if it's moved back to a new tennant. Struck me as very odd but perhaps others have encountered this ? Either way it just seems like a rip off.

October 12, 2009

Help with Lease Clarification

There is a line on my new lease that I need some clarification on:

"Tenant must pay for all electric, gas, telephone, water, sewerage and other utility services used in the apartment and arranged for them with the public utility company"

I am fine with the electricity and gas part because I know we have our own separate meters. If there is only 1 water meter for both tenants must the landlord then cover the water bill? Secondly, is there a separate bill for sewerage? If so how much is that monthly?

Thanks.

October 8, 2009

Utility Plans

An elderly neighbor of mine is considering signing on for Nat'l Grid's Premier Heating Plan which costs about $250 a year. Does anyone have experience with it?
Thanks.

Forum: Utilities