By now, all Queens Fresh Meadows tenants should have received at least one electric bill in a slightly revised format. The new bill shows the electric kilowatt-hour rate and the $4 administrative surcharge for the first time. That was long overdue…

When the Public Service Commission approved the submetering plan for the Fresh Meadows development nearly a decade ago, it stated that bills be itemized to show the parts of the calculation including the electric rate, administrative fee, and sales tax calculations. Perhaps the Queens Fresh Meadows management and their submetering agent will finally see fit to include the sales tax amount as well in future bills.

Meanwhile, back in August 2006, in a letter signed by the then-general manager, Queens Fresh Meadows announced that it would be participating in time-of-use billing program advocated by the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The letter went on to explain “an incentive fund will be established…to be used to reward those residents who shift the greater percentage of their energy consumption to off-peak hours.” (Off-peak hours were defined as 10 P.M. to 8 A.M most weekdays and all weekend days and holidays.)

Seven years later, we are still waiting to hear more about this program or to discover a tenant that has been “rewarded.”