<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>My son has rented an apartment in Philadelphia, can someone let me know the best provider, (actually we want the cheapest) for cable and internet service. Also, can someone give me an idea what the cost of electricity and gas (for cooking) might cost a month for a one bedroom apartment.</p>
<p>Trying to put together a budget but of course, he has no idea about anything…he didn’t even know if the apartment was furnished…and of course it is not!</p>
<p>Your post intrigued me because it said Philly. So I snooped back through some of your posts and saw that it looks like you’re are from CA (so are we) and your son is at PA college.</p>
<p>My son is going to Penn in 3 weeks (ackkk) and he is interested in an apartment next year…I hope you don’t mind but I’m hoping your story will help us in the future. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I would think that your questions can be answered by calling a local realtor.</p>
<p>Three longtime frequent posters here who know Philly well are MomofWildChild, JHS, and MichaelNKat. I’m sure any of them would be happy to reply if you sent them a PM.</p>
<p>I am confused. I don’t think there’s more than one provider for cable in most parts of the city – our very own Comcast (now branded Xfinity). Verizon has just begun rolling out Fios service in parts of the city, but I think it’s still very spotty. If he is in an area with a choice, that’s great, but Comcast still has an effective monopoly for most of the city. If you don’t get any premium channels, it’s probably not that bad. I don’t get cable TV at all, so I don’t know what cable/internet costs. They have periodic intro deals, so you can probably get the first 6-12 months relatively cheaply.</p>
<p>I don’t have gas. The PECO basic rate for electricity is a little over 9 cents/kwh; I don’t know what that translates into for a small apartment and student use.</p>
<p>Sharing an apartment with one other person in Chicago, each of my kids was paying about $75/month for gas, electric, and internet (no TV), i.e., ~$150 for the apartment. Between them, they knew maybe one person who paid for cable TV. Neither of them has even had a TV in their living space in the past 4-5 years. The internet is their TV.</p>
<p>My son will be a senior at Penn. He rents a house on Delancey St. which is by the Veterinary School through University Enterprises. You can call them for details (215)222-5500</p>
<p>It really varies. If the apartment is in a complex, they might have a dedicated cable/internet provider already. Verizon FIOS might not be available in his area with verizon and Comcast being the only cable providers in Philly. DISH and DIRECTV are satellite providors. I preferred DIRECTV over DISH. But they ALL offer packages that vary based on what you want. Check their websites.
As for utilities, again, if he is in a complex the utilities might be managed by a utility company other than the standard PGW (gas) and PECO (electric) so the rates will vary with that. Gas heat is VERY expensive. I would budget $150-200/m for the year and that should cover the peak usage during the winter when the monthly gas billalone might be $200.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, now we know where to start calling. One last question, will the utilities let the kids put the bill in their name or do parents generally need to co-sign (assuming the kids have no credit)?</p>
<p>I know the utilities run your SS # but I’m not sure if they are looking for good/bad/no credit or if you simply still owe them money. I want to lean towrads it’s just to make sure you don’t owe them any money. But I would probably plan for whatever was needed to get the apartment.</p>
<p>If Verizon FIOS is available, get it. It is really really fast - much faster than cable internet, which has become gummed up with everyone watching movies and TV shows online. If you sign up for Verizon online, my get a much better price plus free installation. You can also lock in their discounted phone-TV-internet price for 24 months, if you want.</p>
<p>Just be aware that FIOS installation can take 5 hours. It is done by experienced professionals, as opposed to the subcontractors who often install dish systems.</p>
<p>In most of PA, you can pick your own electrical generating supplier. You still only get one bill from the electric utility. The PA. Public Utility Commission on their website offers comparisons of electric prices. Beware of short-term teaser rates. In parts of PA, you can also pick your natural gas supplier.</p>
<p>capenn-FYI, easy to set up the PECO electric bill, just called with his SS# and DL# and he was approved with out me co-signing…and he has no other credit. I told him he better pay the bill…it is in his name!!</p>
<p>Beware of cooking gas costs. Philadelphia Gas Works has two different charges. One is the gas itself. The other is an administrative charge, which has gotten VERY expensive in recent years. I had a gas stove and a few dollars a month in actual gas usage. Then the administrative charge went up to about $15/month. At that point I bought a two-burner electric cooktop and a toaster oven and had my PGW account closed. Don’t miss it.</p>
<p>charlieschm- What exactly does that mean, you do not need to use PECO? How would we go about finding the gas suppliers. My son called the landlord today snd he was told that the “heat” costs are taken care of by the landlord so he would only need gas for the stove. I know it will probably be used very infrequently…maybe a hot plate like wordworker suggested would be a better idea…</p>
<p>PECO is the electric supplier. In theory, there is competition to supply electricity, and you can contract with suppliers other than PECO. However, hardly anyone has so far, and I think PECO still handles all the actual service and billing.</p>
<p>The gas supplier in the city is Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), which is owned by the city government and is generally pretty awful (unless you are a total deadbeat, in which case PGW is incompetent enough to meet your needs pretty well).</p>