The most common first problem faced by new immigrants or international students who first arrived in the United States when renting a house or moving into a new home is the water, electricity, gas and Internet account opening in the new home.
Living in the United States, how to open water and electricity? How to open the Internet in the United States? How to pay utility bills in the United States?
This is a comprehensive guide to opening accounts for water, electricity, natural gas, Internet and other services in the United States. It includes specific Internet companies, power company recommendations, opening methods, payment procedures, etc. to answer your questions. Don’t forget to collect it!
1. Opening the Internet in the United States
Whether it is your new home or renting a house in the United States, the Internet is basically not included, and you need to open an account by yourself. What
needs to know is that Internet accounts can transfer addresses with users, and some residents will use their previous accounts to access the Internet. For new students, sometimes the service provider will set up a temporary business office near the school during the first semester. You can go there for consultation when you have time, and then prepare to open an account by yourself.
You can choose an Internet company and corresponding packages and plans according to your address and needs. There are usually only two or three large Internet companies in each city in the United States, such as Comcast, AT&T, Specturm, etc.
There are the following three ways to apply for network services in the United States:
1) Apply through the network operator's official website
Generally, the official website of each operator's Internet network service page will ask to enter address information such as street, postal code, etc. , and then various broadband packages will be displayed for you to choose from based on the information you filled in.
2) Apply through the network operator's customer service phone number
Call the phone number of each operator, provide your address information to the customer service, and then the customer service will activate personal services and make payment for you.
3) Apply at a network operator's physical store
If there is a network operator's physical store near where you live, of course you can handle it directly.
For the above three methods, the editor recommends applying on the official website of each network operator. The package display is the most intuitive. You only need to enter your place of residence to see it directly. You will understand it at a glance ~
tips: In order to avoid a wasted trip, you can ask the apartment or landlord in advance which company's network service can be used in your house, and then compare the available operators and packages before deciding which network service to use (generally new Internet users have some first-year discounts, which can be used appropriately).
If you bring , passport, and other materials to the business hall to consult on how to open an account, the waiters in the business hall will usually introduce you to their various preferential packages, such as TV, home phone, etc. After selecting the package service according to your personal needs, they will help you handle the account opening business and arrange a time for on-site installation (generally there is an initial installation fee for on-site installation, remember to ask clearly).
If you choose to call the service provider to open a business, the basic process is similar to going to the business office. The difference is that they will send you the equipment you rented, just remember to check it.
Tips for saving money: After opens the network service, you will have an online account, which can be bound to a bank card to pay regularly. I need to remind everyone here that many Internet companies will give new customers of a discount of for 6 months or 1 year. However, after the discount period expires, the service fee will automatically increase, and it will increase by a certain amount every year. If you want to watch TV, the fee will be even higher. If you think the cost is too high, you can argue with customer service and ask them to adjust the original price for you. If that doesn't work, you can consider changing service providers.
2. Opening an electricity account in the United States
Most apartments do not include electricity bills , and require tenants to open an account with the power company after moving in and pay the electricity bill by themselves every month. For example, if you check in on September 1st and successfully call to open an account on September 5th, the landlord or apartment will send you the bill for September 1-9.4. After all, that is the cost you should bear.
Electricity provides energy for all appliances in the room, including stoves with electric stoves, electric heaters and some central air conditioners (the heating part of some central air conditioners burns natural gas).
strictly pay as much as you use. Each household only needs to send one representative to open an account!
1. American power companies choose
The main power companies in each state in the United States are different, but the relatively large power companies basically have them, such as: Direct Energy, NRG Energy, Spark Energy, Tri-Eagle Energy, National Grid, etc. are all common power companies in the United States.
2, opening method
Opening an electricity bill account is not complicated. Prepare the necessary materials and open them in time and fill them out carefully. Generally, there are two ways to open an electricity bill account in the United States:
- call customer service to open it;
- register and open it directly on the official website of the power company.
If you have any questions or your residence cannot open an account online, you can directly call the customer service number to open it. The process of activating by phone is the same as that of online activating. You also need to provide necessary personal information and then send an ID photo or scanned copy.
Take Los Angeles as an example. Water and electricity belong to the same department (LA Department of Water&Power), so you can directly log in to the Los Angeles water bill company LADWP to register an account and activate water and electricity services.
The activation methods in other regions are also similar. You can directly google your location name + electric or water to find the official website of the local water and electricity department, and then follow the official website prompts to register an account and activate water and electricity services.
One thing that needs to be noted is that there is a very unfriendly part of the power company registration process for international students, that is, you need to use SSN (Social Security Number) when registering an account. SSN is an 8-digit social security card number. Students do not have this number when they first arrive in the United States. They can only obtain an SSN after applying for a job in school or an internship at another company. Without an SSN, you cannot register properly on the website.
At this time, you need to contact the other party’s customer service. Before contacting, you can prepare your passport, I-20 and other personal information. I would also like to remind everyone to be patient. The customer service calls of these companies in the United States sometimes require queuing, and you may not receive a reply on the same day if you send an email. When you get on the phone with the other party, you can say that you are an international student with a F-1 visa and want to open an account. At this time, the other party may email you an application form and application process, requiring you to submit your passport or I-20 information, as well as a rental contract. You can open an account after passing the verification step by step according to the instructions of the customer service staff.
After you have an account, it is relatively simple. You can bind your bank card online and set up scheduled payments. In theory, the American payment system generally requires payment within two weeks after the bill is given. If you forget, there will be overdue penalties. Therefore, you can set up automatic deduction of each bill. However, you should still pay attention to keeping a balance on your bank card. If the balance is insufficient and no payment is deducted, it will also result in overdue fines on the bill.
has his own electricity bill account. If he moves in the future, it will be more convenient. He only needs to contact customer service and tell him the date of his move and the address of his new home, and he can transfer the service and account to his new home. If students want to leave the city or return to their home country, they can also call the power company to tell them the time they will leave their apartment. Then, the company will mail the last bill, and after payment, the account can be canceled.
3, expenses
Electricity and gas bills are relatively important expenses. In terms of electricity bills, in addition to standard appliances such as lights, computers, air conditioners, etc., many houses use electricity for stoves and heaters; gas bills are generally used for furnace heating of houses in winter, gas stoves and water heaters, etc. There are far fewer companies offering these two services than the Internet. As for which one you should choose, you still have to ask your landlord. Generally, there are only one or two in each state.
4, payment method
In the electricity bill in the United States is to use first and then pay , so you don’t have to worry about power outages even if you have just moved..You can register an account on the official website and fill in the date of your check-in. Then, you will receive the bill after your check-in. Theoretically, the power company will send you a bill every month. You can also set up the electronic bill and send it to your mailbox every time. The U.S. payment system generally requires payment within two weeks of a bill being issued. If you forget, there will be overdue penalties.
Pay your electricity bill: Methods include bank checking account payment, credit card (usually incurs additional handling fees), sending cash or check, and money order , etc.
tips: Once you have your own electricity bill account, it will be more convenient if you move later. You only need to contact customer service and tell them the date of your move and the address of your new home, and you can transfer the service and account to your new home. If international students or Chinese in the United States want to leave the city or return to their country, they can also call the power company to tell them the time they will leave the apartment where they live. Then, the company will mail the last bill, and after payment, the account can be canceled.
3. The opening of tap water and gas in the United States
For most apartments, the water fee is generally not charged by default ; that is to say, there is no water fee! But generally it won’t be stated specifically! If necessary, the landlord will tell you the account opening requirements of water power companies and natural gas companies. These bills may be mailed to your address on a monthly or three-month cycle and can be paid by check or online.
Generally you don’t need to choose between water and natural gas companies, and you don’t need to change to . The costs of these two items should not be too high. Similarly, if you need to move, remember to close your account or transfer the account you need to the new address. In fact, water and natural gas companies in the United States generally do not require you to choose or replace them. The costs of these two items should not be too high.
tips: Accounts and bills for electricity, internet, water, and gas services in the United States are bound to the address. If you need to move, you must handle it in time to avoid billing problems.
Notes
- Many times you have just moved into a new house and the water and electricity supply already exists. They will send you a welcome letter and default to using their basic plan (which is most likely a plan with no discount at all). You can contact the company to change the plan or switch to another supplier.
- Be sure to understand the usage of water and electricity in your home. Be sure to read the meter before moving in. If you sign a contract with an agency, you also need to check whether the numbers on the contract and the water and electricity meter are consistent to avoid subsequent disputes.
- Some water and electricity companies will mail you an estimated bill (estimated bill). After receiving the expense bill, the first thing to do is to check whether it is estimated reading. If so, immediately go to the water and electricity meter, write down the numbers, call the supply company, tell them your reading, and then ask them to resend the bill.
Finally
In summary, when moving to a new address, you can ask the landlord, apartment, or neighbors in advance which company to choose for water, electricity, electricity, and natural gas. This can generally save a lot of time on your own research. In addition, accounts and bills for electricity, internet, water, and gas services in the United States are tied to addresses. If you need to move, you must close the account in time or transfer the account to a new address to avoid billing problems.
I hope this article will be helpful to you, remember to save it for later use ~
For more American real estate + information, please download the "youhomes" client search in the APP Store. Please do not reprint without authorization.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-