Click Here To See What Electricity Costs
1. What utility services does the City provide?
Water,
sewer, electric and refuse, among other services such as outside area lights,
etc. are supplied to City residents and surrounding areas. Not all locations
that are served by the City are provided all of the above-mentioned services.
Contact Customer Service at 252-639-2750 to identify the services that
are offered to your specific location.
2. Why aren’t there reduced rates for senior citizens?
Lower income customers?
Senior citizens can receive a reduced
rate for refuse determined by Craven County Government based on income
and age. Contact Public Works at 252-639-7501 for more info. Although the City does
not provide reduced rates for lower income households, it will allow
customers to make reasonable short-term payment plans for past-due bills
on an occasional basis. Payment plans are a privilege and will be granted
upon a customer’s ability to pay, in addition to a customer’s
history of abiding to agreements in the past. The City works with
a number of public and private organizations that help customers pay
their utility bills. Please contact a Customer
Service Representative at 252-639-2750 for further
informa-tion.
3. Am I inside or outside the City limits and how is that determined?
Legislature
designates City boundaries as approved by the Aldermen, who are elected
by the citizens. Contact Customer Service at 252-639-2750 to find out if you are inside or outside the City limits.
4. Why does the City charge deposits?
Payment for utility
service is collected after it has been provided. Deposits are collected
as security so that all bills will be paid in full by their due date. Although
most customers pay their bills in full and on time, the requirement of
deposits protects good-paying customers from the detriment of uncollectible
accounts by other customers.
5. Why do I need a copy of my lease or sales agreement to get
service?
The requirement of a lease or sales agreement protects
good-paying customers from the detriment of fraudulent accounts being
established that are uncollectible. An inhabitant of the dwelling must live at the location
to have their
name on the account. Landlords may have the account in their name
if the residence is vacant.
6. Is a budget plan for utility bills available?
Yes.
The Budget Billing / Equal Payments Plan helps residential customers eliminate
billing swings due to higher usage during the heating and cooling seasons.
The plan brings your highest bills down and your lowest bills up to the
same amount each month by averaging your bills over the last 12 months.
Please contact Customer Service at 252-639-2750 for more information.
7. Where do I get gas, water, sewer and electric service
if not provided by the City?
There are different providers
of these services throughout the area depending on where an individual
resides. The New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce supplies a listing of
the providers and can be contacted at 252-637-3111.
8. What will it cost me to get service?
There are
many different variables involved in this question regarding type(s)
of service, new or transfer of service, deposit required etc. Please
contact a Customer Service Representative
at 252-639-2750 who can best answer this question for you.
9. What is my bill? When is it due? How do I change my
address, start or end service, pay by credit card?
Please
contact a Customer Service Representative at 252-639-2750 who can best answer this question for you.
10. Why am I being billed for water/sewer/electric/refuse when I haven’t had any usage?
The bill
includes charges for availability of the services. Meters still
need to be read and the services are in place ready for customers
to use. Refuse trucks visit all locations with active accounts each
week, regardless of whether you put your trash cart out.
11. Why does the City have tap fees?
The City
collects tap fees to offset a portion of the capital expense of building
the infrastructure of the systems. The water system has five wells,
four elevated storage tanks, two ground storage tanks, one booster
pump station in addition to over 200 miles of pipe in the ground
as well as over 12,000 water meters.
12. Why does sewer service cost more than water service?
Sewer
requires the wastewater to be processed and the sludge (grit and
solids) to be removed and disposed of in an environmentally friendly
way. Water is less expensive because it requires less treatment.
13. What kinds of trash can I put out?
Please click here for this information.
14. How do I get a trash can? Recycling bin?
Please
contact Public Works at 252-639-7501. Allow one week for delivery.
15. How can I be using so much service when I’m not
home all day?
Energy is still used to heat and cool an
empty building. The building could be poorly insulated. Adjusting
thermostats more than 3 degrees at a time can cause heat strips
to run unnecessarily which can result in an unusually high bill.
Using an appliance (electric stove) to heat the building not designed
for that purpose contributes to high bills and is very unsafe.
16. What are your electric rates?
Please click here for this information.
17. How often do you estimate bills rather
than reading the meter?
Bills are seldom estimated unless
staff can’t get to the
meters. For example, access is sometimes limited because of dogs,
fences, or a car parked on a water meter lid. You can always request
that your meter be read again, free of charge. The City tries to
read each meter every month.
18. How can I get an energy-efficiency discount on my residential
bill?
Please click here for this information. For additional information, please click here.
19. How can I get my electric bill lower?
Please click here for this information.
