New Privatized Base Housing

[dbatt005]

Has anyone experienced the new privatization of base housing; specifically utility bills? I have read the FAQs on the subject and want to know if anyone has actually had to pay for utilities based on the "average" calculation. We are moving to base housing in Brunswick in September and don't want any suprise heating bills in the winter.

 

[Teflonjohn01]

I have lived in base housing for 6 years in 3 different PPV housing areas...never paid a dime for any utilities.

 

[Flying Low]

The way it was explained to us here (Whiting Pines) is they take the average utilities bill over a year based off of SQ and possible number of people living in a house and come up with a monthly average. You can go 10% over that amount without having to pay anything. So anything above 110% and you will have to pay the difference. So the people already living there have set the average unless the PPV has been in effect for less then a year. PPV just started here back in Oct so we are still working on the 1 year average. I think that 95% of the people living in housing stay below 110% of the bill.

 

[BourneID]

I recently moved from the Housing in Brunswick, and don't worry, you will get no surprise bills, unless you consider Cable and telephone a surprise. its a great deal up there, especialy since oil prices are so high. We kept our house like a sauna in the winter, and an icebox in the summer, and all it cost me was my BAH!

 

[dbatt005]

Thanks for the info. We last lived in base housing in 1998 with the old system. The price of oil is what we were concerned with in Brunswick. I didn't want to get a $1000 oil bill in December.

 

[TheBubba]

The way it was explained to us here (Whiting Pines) is they take the average utilities bill over a year based off of SQ and possible number of people living in a house and come up with a monthly average. You can go 10% over that amount without having to pay anything. So anything above 110% and you will have to pay the difference. So the people already living there have set the average unless the PPV has been in effect for less then a year. PPV just started here back in Oct so we are still working on the 1 year average. I think that 95% of the people living in housing stay below 110% of the bill.

They are thinking about doing something similar at all of the Puget Sound area bases.

 

[BourneID]

Brunswick never went the 110% route, because by the time they would have it all hammered out, the base would be closing anyway. The oil bills are no joke, before we moved into housing we spent $3000 in oil from NOV- APR

 

[Oakley568]

Corpus Christi was just about to start charging for utilities based on the 1 year "average" but I was fortunate enough to move out a month before that. I just moved into housing here in Hawaii which is PPV and she explained the exact same concept, but I can't remember if she said it's happening now or will happen. It seems like everyone is doing it these days, unless the base housing isn't PPV.

 

[dbatt005]

I called the housing office in Brunswick today. They said that since Brunswick is closing, they will not be metering any of the houses and therefore no way to bill for utilities.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

Camp Pendleton's base housing is owned by Lincoln Properties, but still offers free utilities for the foreseeable future.

 

[navywareagle]

I live in PPV Whiting Pines. When I signed the lease, I was told that there were no utility bills. I keep my thermostat on 68!

 

[Flying Low]

I live in PPV Whiting Pines. When I signed the lease, I was told that there were no utility bills. I keep my thermostat on 68!

That is because we are still in the 1st year where they set the average.

 

[SLB]

dbatt005,
Make sure to buy a couple of window air conditioners for your house if you will be living in the Mckeen street housing. Get one for the front room and one for the master bedroom. I recommend 10,000 BTU for the front and 5k btu for the master. That seemed to keep our house relatively cool during the one month of hot humid weather. I also highly recommend getting a large humidifier for the winter. We kept our heat at 68 but it felt a lot warmer with the extra humidity in the air.

If you have any other questions about BWK, send me a pm. We spent over five years and I loved every minute of it

SLB

 

[dbatt005]

dbatt005,
Make sure to buy a couple of window air conditioners for your house if you will be living in the Mckeen street housing. Get one for the front room and one for the master bedroom. I recommend 10,000 BTU for the front and 5k btu for the master. That seemed to keep our house relatively cool during the one month of hot humid weather. I also highly recommend getting a large humidifier for the winter. We kept our heat at 68 but it felt a lot warmer with the extra humidity in the air.

If you have any other questions about BWK, send me a pm. We spent over five years and I loved every minute of it

SLB

Thanks for the tips. With my squadron's move back to Jax, we may not be there for the warm month. Good to know just in case the family is still there.

 

[mb1k]

Just for data crunching, I've not paid anything for utilities at NGP since going to the "new" utility plan. That means I've had credit each month; and that's running the house in south Texas at 73ºF, and two dehumidifiers running constantly in 1,900 sq/ft.