Hi all—first time renting my own place and I’m moving to Astoria next month. My landlord just told me I have to put the electricity in my name with ConEd before I can pick up keys. Is that normal? I’ve always sublet or lived with roommates who had the accounts.

Also do I need to call National Grid separately for gas? My lease says heat and hot water are included, but I don’t know if the stove is gas or not. I tried to call ConEd yesterday and got bounced around the phone tree.

Do they make you pay a deposit when you’re new? I have okay credit but not sure what to expect. Thanks!

Totally normal, Beth. A landlord doesn’t want the service in their name or the previous tenant’s name when you take occupancy, because then any usage after your start date can become a billing mess. They also don’t want you moving in and “forgetting” to switch it, leaving them holding the bag.

In Astoria, electricity is almost certainly ConEd. Gas can be ConEd or National Grid depending on the block and the pipes—my old place near 30th Ave had ConEd gas, while a friend a few blocks toward Ditmars had National Grid. Don’t guess. Check your lease first: it may say which utility is responsible for cooking gas. If the lease is silent, ask the landlord or look at the stove itself; sometimes the meter tags will say ConEd or National Grid.

You usually don’t need to call. Create an online account, pick “start service,” enter the move-in date and the apartment/unit’s meter number if they ask. If you don’t have a meter number, the address should work. ConEd may run a soft credit check or ask for a deposit if you have no history, but a small deposit is not unusual for a first account. Save the confirmation page and send it to the landlord.

One caveat: take a dated photo of the electric meter on day one, before you move a single box in. If the previous tenant ended service early, you don’t want their usage on your opening reading.

Yup, normal. Landlords are lazy about this until they get a bill and suddenly it's your problem. ConEd online takes ten minutes if you have your SSN and the apartment number. Phone wait is a whole afternoon, so don't call unless you have to.

And for gas—Gowanus is National Grid for gas, ConEd for electric, but Queens can flip block by block. If the stove is gas, you'll need whichever one serves the building. The landlord should know, but half the time the broker lies.

Keep a screenshot of the “service confirmed” page and text it to the super too. Some places just need to see the account number, not an actual deposit. You'll be fine.

Thanks, both! I set it up online this morning and it was way less painful than I expected. No deposit came up for me, just a start date and account number. I sent the confirmation page to the management office and they said okay, I can pick up keys the day before the lease starts after I sign the last page.

@oldyork_otis that meter photo tip is great—I’ll do that before we bring boxes in. My lease didn’t say which gas company, so now I’m waiting to hear back from the super about whether I even need to open a gas account or if it’s only for the building’s cooking line.

One follow-up: they asked me to put the lease start date as the service date even though I’m picking up keys the night before. That’s fine, right?