Roosevelt Island Electricity Bills - Submetering at Eastwood Fears and Manhattan Park Complaints
With winter coming, keeping warm means increased energy usage together with higher Con Ed electricity charges. Assembly Member Micah Kellner reports in his newsletter on the situation confronting residents of Eastwood, now known as Roosevelt Landings:
Recently, residents of the Eastwood complex on Roosevelt Island were informed by their management company, Urban American, that the building would be converting to sub-metered electricity. This means that tenants would be billed individually for their household’s electricity usage. Urban American intends for this transition to take place early next year.Saving Mitchell-Lama explains how submetering impacts residents in Mitchell-Lama housing:
I have serious concerns about this process, and how it will affect tenants.
On October 16th, I participated in a town hall meeting, along with Eastwood tenants, at the Good Shepherd Community Center. The meeting was an opportunity to ask building management questions about the sub-metering proposal, as well as to hear from the state agencies involved. As a result of this meeting, and the numerous comments I have heard from residents there, I do not believe that the building is ready to go forward with sub-metering.
Too many tenants still have energy-inefficient appliances and faulty electric heaters, these are not personal items, rather these are items that come with the apartment and the management company is responsible for them. Urban American has promised to replace inefficient appliances and to fix heaters and thermostats for any residents who make a request to them. If you are an Eastwood tenant and you have made a request like this to management but they have not responded, please call me.
It is imperative that we have a clear picture of overall energy use in the building. The building’s heat is electric, so it is essential to ensure that tenants do not face unreasonably high utility bills just to stay warm in the winter. It concerns me that so many apartments are poorly insulated and Urban American needs to address this. I have asked the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to conduct a full survey of energy use and efficiency in Eastwood, so that residents are not penalized by faulty design or maintenance.
I am also concerned that we do not have a real sense about how billing will work under this new system, given the complicated system of affordable housing programs that are integrated into the Mitchell-Lama’s accounting already. Will the utility allowance calculated by state and federal agencies be enough to compensate tenants for a reasonable amount of electricity usage? I have asked New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson as well as the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal to work with Urban American to ensure that residents are protected.
... Your rent is reduced by a fixed amount established by the State's Division of Housing and Community Renewal. (Click on the blue lettering to see DHCR's fact sheet and the exact rent reduction numbers.)Residents of Manhattan Park have some complaints about their electric bills too and The NY Times explains how to read your Con Ed electricity bill
The landlord buys electricity at the bulk (cheaper) rate from the provider (like Con Ed or some other Energy Service Company provider - or "ESCO"), and then is supposed to charge the tenants the same rate plus a $4 administrative fee -- but there is currently no way to check how much the landlord actually paid. The landlord is allowed to charge up to the amount you could be charged if you were billed directly by Con Edison at the full residential rate. (If the landlord buys electricity from two or more providers, there may be two or more bills for him to pass along to you.)
The amount you spend each month on electricity is listed as a separate part of your rent bill, and you pay it with your rent. In some cases, you get a bill directly from the company administering the submetering bill, and you would pay that company directly....
UPDATE:12/1 - Assembly Member Kellner, State Senator Serrano, Congresswoman Maloney and Council Member Lappin sent this letter to Urban America's CEO Phillip Eisenberg expressing concern regarding the electrical submetering at Eastwook (Roosevelt Landings).
