Apartment Utilities - Somerville (Boston: rental, tenants, live)

[Shutterflyy]

Hi there! I'm a student and I'm moving into an apartment in Somerville (near Davis) with three friends come September. Although I've lived in Boston for quite some time, I've been in a dormitory situation and never had to deal with separate utility costs.

As far as gas and electric goes, who do you suggest? Our apartment uses natural gas, so we are considering getting Nstar for both. Would it be cheaper to use another provider for gas?

[shiver]

Do you mean for heating? If your heat is included in your rent and the gas is just for the kitchen stove then I don't think the savings will be very much. Key Span is who I've always had for natural gas.

If you're paying for heat on your own then it can get very expensive and it may be worth shopping around. I don't know if this is still the case, but as of like 3 years ago, you could call up the customer service line of the utility company (nstar and keyspan), give them the address and apt. number and they would tell you what last year's tenants paid each month in utility bills (my friend used to work as a rental agent and would do this so she'd know what to tell her clients when they asked). What a previous tenant paid isn't a guarantee of what you'll pay, but it will give you an idea.