High LIPA bill.. is this normal? (Ames: apartment, house, landlord)

[Aimlessly Wandering]

I just moved into an apartment in Long Island, and I just received my first LIPA and Keyspan bill. The LIPA bill came in at a whopping $379 for 33 days. It says I used 2112 kWh in those 33 days. My Keyspan bill came in at $80 because I'm on balanced billing with that. Even still, the actual usage was only $30, so Keyspan actually owes me money. I'm waiting till Monday to go to the LIPA office to figure out what's going on. Honestly $379 a month for electricity in a 2 bedroom apartment is insane, and I was paying less when living in a private home in Queens. I did some math, and using 2112 kWh in 33 days is the equivalent of using 2666 watts per hour, which I don't think I'm even close to using.

[fopt65]

Using any electric heaters? Are you in a house or apartment building? If a private home, how many electric meters are there?

[baylovers]

Sounds high to me, but then again LIPA is insanely expensive... let us know how you make out.

[Aimlessly Wandering]

No electric heaters, No air conditioners. It's just a 2 bedroom apartment. There are like 5 meters each dedicated to each apartment.

[Mizmoon2006]

That sounds insanely high to me. My LIPA bill is no where near that for a whole house. If I were you I'd investigate with LIPA and with the owner/manager of the complex. Someone might be stealing electricity from you.

[nancy thereader]

I hope that you aren't getting mischarged for everyone in the building. It sounds ridiculously high to me. Good luck ! Let us know.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by Aimlessly Wandering

I just moved into an apartment in Long Island, and I just received my first LIPA and Keyspan bill. The LIPA bill came in at a whopping $379 for 33 days. It says I used 2112 kWh in those 33 days. My Keyspan bill came in at $80 because I'm on balanced billing with that. Even still, the actual usage was only $30, so Keyspan actually owes me money. I'm waiting till Monday to go to the LIPA office to figure out what's going on. Honestly $379 a month for electricity in a 2 bedroom apartment is insane, and I was paying less when living in a private home in Queens. I did some math, and using 2112 kWh in 33 days is the equivalent of using 2666 watts per hour, which I don't think I'm even close to using.

Something is certainly wrong. Either the meter was read wrong, someone is stealing by tapping into your electric, the meter is running fast (I had that happen, fought it and received a new, normal meter) or you're being charged for more than one apartment.

[Aimlessly Wandering]

Figured out what was wrong today.. This is what happened:

I move in and try to switch over LIPA account from landlord to my name, LIPA advises that I have to pay the current balance on the account to do so. I agree to this, so I go to the LIPA office and pay 23$

Next month comes, and the outrageous bill is here. The bill says that last month was 23$. The bill is incorrect. When I went to the LIPA office, the person told me it was 23$ for only TWO days of service.

Outrageous bill comes from the estimate they made from those two days of high energy usage, PLUS the fact that only two days of last month were only paid for.

I went to take a reading of the meter myself, and they were off by about $160. So what my bill turns out to be is (Last Month - 2 Days) + This Month = $380 - $160. That is my guesstimate, which should be close. I'm waiting for them to send me a new bill now.

[Dedalus]

That is 64 KWH per day, 2.67 KWH per hour. This means that you would have to be, on each of those 33 days, have to be burning almost 27 100 watt light bulbs, or running two 1,300 watt blow dryers, 24 hours a day.

COMPLAIN YOUR A-- OFF! That is not only absurd, but it's absurd on the face of it, they should have some mechanism in place to prevent this kind of mistake and inconveniencing people. Somebody ought to be on the phone like, yesterday, apologizing to you and promising to correct the mistake right now.

If they're not, get NAMES and write a SMOKING letter to the public utilities commission.

[warm2holdsue]

Originally Posted by Aimlessly Wandering

No electric heaters, No air conditioners. It's just a 2 bedroom apartment. There are like 5 meters each dedicated to each apartment.

We both have the same problem as far as lipa .We live in a 2 family apartment for exactly a year,we have to move as the landlord "sold" the house.Since the begining I was the only one getting a lipa bill. My bill on the budget plan started with $55 a month then jumped to $70 then 2 months later $136 a month after $235 and last month the last bill came through at $570 now its over $600.We are also in a 2 bedroom apt,no a/c dishwasher washer or dryer,central air etc. They came for a shared meter investigation,the landlord didnt show. They rescheduled on the 22nd.I am put on hold for now until after the investigation,suggestions?