Moving In: How to Deal with Electricity and Gas with Central Hudson in New York State
This page explains how to organize your electricity and gas when moving into a new home, with Central Hudson Gas & Electric.
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Moving In: What You Need to Do
Your home may be in Central Hudson gas territory, electricity territory, or both. The process for activating gas and electricity is the same. Be sure to:
- Call Central Hudson at least 5 business days before your moving-in date
- Give them:
- name
- moving-in address
- previous address
- moving-in date
- telephone number
- social security number (or passport number if you have none)
If your line is already activated, Central Hudson will simply create the account in your name immediately, and start billing you on the date you wish to start service. It takes one business day to begin service if your line is already active.
If your line was deactivated, usually if the previous tenant moved out a while ago, your meter will require to be switched on, which can take up to 5 business days to take effect. This is why you must call Central Hudson at least 5 business days in advance.
The activation of the line is normally free of charge. Nevertheless, you might be required to pay a deposit if you:
- are moving in on a short term lease
- are moving in on a business account
- have a previous outstanding balance with Central Hudson
- have a low credit score
You do not need to give any banking information at this stage. You will only be required to do so only when you receive your first bill.
Default Rates When Moving In
When you set up your account with Central Hudson, you are free to choose a rate plan. If you do not specify a rate choice, you will be automatically signed up on a variable rate plan. This means you will be buying the electricity or gas at a price which varies bi-monthly. At the end of the month, you will receive an electricity bill with the price per kilowatt-hour averaged over the whole month. Your gas bill functions much the same way, but is measured in therm units.
Choosing an Alternative Energy Supply Company (ESCO)
When you move into a new home, you have the possibility to choose an alternative Energy Supply Company (ESC0) supplier. Since the energy retail market has been deregulated and opened to the competition in New York, users are now free to choose the regulated electricity and gas tariffs of their utility company (Central Hudson in your case), or to switch towards competitive offers made by alternate suppliers (Direct Energy, Just Energy, Spark Energy, Oasis Energy, and many others).
Millions of users across New York State and across the country use moving into a new home as an opportunity to find out about different electricity and gas supply offers and save money on their bills.
Moving In and Signing Up with Central Hudson
Central Hudson is the electricity and/or gas utility company for your area. This means that Central Hudson is the sole company which can do the deliver electricity or gas to your home. Delivery encompasses building and maintaining transmission and distribution infrastructure, and transporting electricity and gas from the point of production (an electrical power plant for example) to your home.
By default, Central Hudson will also be your default electricity or gas supplier as well, or the company that sells electricity and gas to you at a retail level. When calling Central Hudson to activate your meter, you are also signing up for a supply agreement, even though you are not obligated to do so.
Next steps for moving-in: Signing-up with an ESCO
If you decide to make the switch to an Energy Service Company (ESC0), the supply of your electricity or gas will be switched over to your ESCO of choice, while delivery will remain the responsibility of Central Hudson. This means that you will receive two bills for each energy source - one for your ESCO's competitive monthly supply charges, and the other for Central Hudson's delivery charges.
In order to sign up with an alternate ESCO supplier, you must activate your meter and line with Central Hudson first. This is because your new ESCO will need your Central Hudson account information in order to make the switch happen.
Contact Central Hudson
You can contact the Central Hudson customer service by dialing: (845) 452-2700 from 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM (Mon - Fri), and 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM (Sat).
If you need more information on Central Hudson, you can visit our Central Hudson profile page.