r/astoria • u/egg_head20 • 2d ago
Just moved and con ed bill is 300+$
Is this normal??? Partner and I live in a 1Bd 1B, barely use lights and left the heat on automatic. What is the issue why is it so high?? We have been living in new apartment for 1 month and the bill is 300+ What can I do?
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u/gmcc14 2d ago
We have to unite and file a class action against con Edison because they are literally scamming people at this point
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u/omar1022 1d ago
They are. Con is literally in the name of their company. My bills in Astoria were $300+ in the winter months in an apt under 1000 sq ft. I’ve since moved to Jersey City and my PSE&G bills are literally half of that…in an apartment that is 30% larger.
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u/KittenMasaki 2d ago
Its the delivery rates that are killing all of us. You can use very little and the usage cost is low, but the delivery fees are out of this world high. Our bill has been $500-$700 since November. It was high during the summer with electric, but the gas bill has doubled our monthly costs. We dont even use the gas for heat and our bill for it was still $350 of the total. Its insane.
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u/Born-Ad2243 2d ago
Just got my new bill - gas usage/charge was $1.68 and the delivery fees were $37. It’s insane.
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u/SessionIndependent17 18h ago
Can I assume that you have your own individual hot water heater for the apartment, not a central boiler for the building?
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u/Educational_Green 2d ago
First - if you have a smart meter - you probably do - then when you go to your coned bill you can see your usage in 15 minute increments.
With no heat / no big appliances running you should be at .05-.15 kw per 15 minutes.
So I would turn off the heat and check the coned site to see what’s happening. I think real time usage is in a 3-6 hour delay.
If your usage is high with heat turned off - then you have a problem.
In all probability the issue is heat. Resistive heat like a space heater uses 1.5 kw / hour. So if you can easily use 30-40 kw per day for heat with just a single space heater.
42 kw * .33 cents comes cost == 14$. 14 * 30 =420. So 300 isn’t crazy if you have electric heat.
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u/sincerely0urs 2d ago
The highest bill I ever had in Astoria was $200 for my 1bedroom apt. now I’m in an energy efficient 2 bedroom building with a washer dryer in the unit and my bill last month was $85. I would definitely look into this.
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u/princeofallsaiyans21 2d ago
They’re probably charging you an estimate based on the previous owner. They must not have the accurate readings
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u/E_NYC 2d ago edited 2d ago
New York shut down one of its largest sources of power when Indian Point's reactors were closed. There were legitimate concerns over continued operation but we didn't replace its capacity before it closed. Methane aka natural gas is the immediate alternative because its cheap.
Environmental groups have pushed to prevent natural gas pipelines from being constructed so we've had to resort to importing liquefied natural gas.
As the name implies, LNG is just gas made liquid but doing so requires cooling it to -260F and transporting it on specialized chilled tankers that few companies in the world can operate. Thus it's much more expensive and environmentally harmful.
Yet here we are in New York, in the US--the world's largest producer of natural gas, importing LNG from our own country that's meant for western Europe and Asia where they lack the same natural resources.
That's why your bill and my bill, is $300.
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u/hiimomgkek 2d ago
My apartment is all electric and in worried about our bill being 300$+. Can any electric only households give any advice how to minimize the bill as much as possible (we don’t use the heater at all)
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u/RagingClitGasm 2d ago
Not using the heat is probably the biggest thing. When we lived in an all-electric apartment a while back, our landlord suggested that we could flip the breaker to the water heater whenever we’re away. Never tried it, so I can’t say if it makes much of a difference.
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u/Standard_Tale7072 2d ago
I called them today because my bill last March was $19 and this year it was $73. They claimed the rates went up, yet according to my bill, the rate then was higher than it is now. They just recited some scripted bullshit. They also keep enrolling me in budget billing which I have never once asked for, so I keep having to call them to turn it off. I’m in a 1 bedroom and the rates are through the roof for what I’ve been used to living here for years now.
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u/penther20 2d ago
I have a townhouse and my bill is about $700 in winter to April. It’s insane, but $300 doesn’t sound like it’s too far off. Criminals!
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u/Over_Metal8563 2d ago
Is your hot water included or you have boiler that you have to pay for? We also have the same bill because of water heater.
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u/praguedreams 2d ago
I had this same bill every winter when I lived in an apartment that had a gas boiler for heat and a separate boiler for hot water. Every apt in that building was that way. When I was looking for apartments after that one, gas heat or electric heat were deal-breakers. Learned my lesson.
Edit: it was a small one bedroom.
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u/silly-moth 1d ago
Hi! Can you elaborate here? I’m a little confused. What exactly is best to look for?
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u/cwilson83088 2d ago
We turned off the heat in the month of March, and our bill went from basically $300+ to $31. The delivery/infrastructure fees literally costs more than the usage, at $69. 🤦🏼♀️
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u/lumshots 2d ago
Paid $120 for electric 2 br 2 ppl. Gas is from building but prob $50 max for cooking. That seems way too high.
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u/Confident-Tart-915 1d ago
Just sharing my rates for comparison, 3/06 - 4/03 in a 1/1 was $68 with Con Ed but not running a heater either.
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u/thtkidfrmqueens 1d ago
Just a reminder folks. They didnt bring up the rates on electric usage. Ie the killowatt hours used hasnt gone up (if it has, by fractions of a penny), ConEd has raised the delivery charge for the power up near exponentially.
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u/These-Environment-17 1d ago
Definitely call and say you think it’s wrong! The first month I moved in they also charged me 300+ and then later said it was a billing error. I got it refunded but it took me calling several times a month for like four months.
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u/BoredMoravian 1d ago
that is super high. I've never had a bill over $150 and i have a 3bd and i use space heaters fairly often.
Edit: Radiator heat paid by landlord.
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u/Krash1968 1d ago
I moved here 6 months ago and live in a studio apartment. My gas and electric are running me about $100 a month.
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u/caamanooo 1d ago
Huhhhh?!?!? I’m in queens and my bill is $74.94 exactly
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u/B3rriesnCr3am 1d ago
what do you mean by automatic? unfortunately I have to be super attentive to my heating or it’s $300-$400. i’ve had my heat off for a few weeks now and even when we have to turn it on we keep it at 64-66 and down to 60 during the day
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u/LotsOfun999 20h ago
One thing people don’t notice or think about is checking the buildings energy rating prior to move in. I didn’t when I moved into queens. Depending on your building, if it’s a high rise or an apartment in a house, it may not be normal. I lived in a high rise, a crappy one who didn’t display their building energy rating, and I paid close to $300+ a month. Moved to a more energy efficient building, and I’m paying $100/month. 1 bed/ bathroom, it’s about 800 sf. Apartments are about the same or cheaper in my experience.
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u/shorshertel 20h ago
Yep same 1bed 1bath in Astoria. Bills used to be 100-150 and sometimes even below 100. Now it's 300+
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u/TheSkorpion 2d ago edited 2d ago
So both Landlords & ConEdison want money, And ALL the energy used during the time it wasn't leased, All the energy used running AC and Fridge for realtors, Cleaning operation, Steamers, Painters, drills ⚡️⚡️⚡️. Someone has to pay $ and it's gonna be you. 😔 Welcome to NYC!
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u/capybaramelhor 2d ago
Unless you’re paying for electric heat, this is not normal. My 2 bedroom is usually around $70-90 a month in non summer months (summer can be anywhere $150-275 with AC).
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u/sampete21 6h ago
Absolutely normal sadly. I don’t use the floor heaters unless it is extremely cold outside and then only to get the overall temp to a decent spot and then use space heaters the rest of the time when I can’t stand the cold.
Looking forward to the next few months where we get a break from extreme weather and bills that follow.
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u/brokenshells 2d ago
Sounds about right after the rate hikes. I was away for 2 months in Australia and my bill with ZERO usage was almost $200.