Getting Power Established at Houses

[Scott Stevens]

Hi everyone,

Here in Georgia, Georgia Power likes to charge an account establishment fee for power turn-ons. I have had to get power turned on at places when I first get them to be able to test things out and I guess it helps to an extent during showings when tenants see the house well lit and lights on in dark places like bathrooms certainly are nicer than them being dark. 

Are these startup fees unavoidable? Is it just Georgia doing this? What do you guys do? I'd asked one person if they can just waive the fee as this was a rental and of course the person on the phone said no. Is there a specific account I can get with the power company? Or something specific I should be asking for? Thank you in advance.

[Sampson S.]

Not sure if this will be of help to you, but Georgia Power has a program for Landlords/Property Managers.  ( I literally signed up for this yesterday)   You pay once to get the power turned on, and sign the landlord agreement.  Every time a tenant moves in, the tenant turns on power in their name, and the bill comes out of yours.  Every time a tenant moves out, it goes back into your name automatically.  It ABSOLUTELY requires that you stay on top of your tenants and make sure that they activate power on the move in date, and that you watch your bill to determine if they disconncted power while still occupying the property.

Go to georgiapower.com - click on for business, scroll down - click on services for property managers.  

hope that helps.