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Hooking up the Utilities
A guide to setting up all your utilities
All the comforts of home are easily accessible for new Valley residents, thanks to user-friendly Web sites and simplified startup processes. Here¹s a look at how to get started quickly and simply with phone, water and electric providers:
Phone
Two major service providers, Qwest and Cox Communications, serve the home telephone needs of customers Valley-wide. They also offer related services, like Internet connection, long distance, cable and satellite TV.
A customer may be asked to pay a deposit based on the outcome of a credit check.
Water
Most Valley municipalities handle water services internally, so begin by contacting them by phone or online. In Scottsdale, for example, residents simply call or fill out an online request form to begin water service, says Corrine Ulmer, utility billing manager. The city needs one business day's notice.
"We can sign somebody up in two to three minutes," she says. "It's not a painful process. We never want to make it that for our customers."
Electricity
Powering up your home is simple‹most Arizona homes are served by Arizona Public Service (APS) or Salt River Project (SRP). Territorial agreements were worked out years ago, leaving SRP with more homes in the Valley, about 800,000 and APS with more homes statewide. Ask your realtor or neighbors which company serves your area.
Probably the most important thing to do, if you're here from cooler climates: prepare for higher summer electric bills.
"When we get calls from out-of-state customers, we try to advise them that their summer bills won't be what they were in Iowa," says Mike Udall, manager of SRP's residential call center. "Overall, their bills are going to be higher."
It costs more to cool a home in summer than to warm it in winter. Eventually, new residents become more acclimated to the heat and don't need to set thermostats as low as when they first arrived, Udall says.
Same-day setup costs $20, in addition to the normal $28 turn-on fee, and is possible only if customers call before 3:30 p.m. on business days. If you can give at least one business day's notice, there is no extra fee.
SRP determines whether to collect refundable deposits based on credit checks. If required, a deposit is usually $120 to $240, depending on the estimated amount of power to be used in the home, Udall says.
               
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