How to set up electricity and Water and other utilities in new home?

If I remember correctly you are moving to the north coast Cabarete/Sosua area.  If so you will need to:
1. make sure that the previous owner has canceled his contract with Ede Norte (electric company).  If he has not doe this you will be stuck with his bill when you open your account.  You will need to go to the Ede Norte office in Sosua and submit an application. When this is done they will re hook up your line. Note that this can take a day or two. So don't do it on a Friday.
2. Depending on what community you are moving to water may be included in your home owners fees.  If not you may need to do basically the same process as above with the water company.
3TV/Cable/Internet.  If in Cabarete you need to go to the cable company (Cable Norte ??) which his in the plaza that had the Caribe tours exchange house next door to Lunares Feraterria.  Again make sure the old contract has been canceled. If in Sosua you need to go to the De Lancer office in Charimicos  just down the highway from the Caribe bus terminal. About 100 meters past (west) of the traffic light.  Again this will take a day or two to get set up.

I cannot stress enough to make sure that ALL previous contracts with the previous owners have been canceled or you will be hassled for their past bills.  We still get phone calls form ede Norte on a client of ours who did not do this and has since moved back to the UK.  However we were his contact person so they keep calling us about the previous bill from 6 years ago.

Your real estate agent should be able to help you with some of this.

Hope this helps.  If not let me know what you need.

Bob K

Great post Bob,  you are right to stress this and it works with renting or owning.  WHen you take possession INSIST on copies of the old bill showing it paid to 0.  That is the ONLY way you can get a new contract, unless you are prepared to pay off their bill.  The recent move there was an old bill of  216 RD  outstanding... you bet I paid that off! They would have made me wait weeks over that while they tried to track down the previous tenant.....     

To expand on this thread -  be aware in MANY areas it can take weeks to get an electrical contract opened and the electricity turned on!    Edeeste is particularly  SLOW at doing this requiring multiple visits - you to their office and at least 2 visits - them to your house or apartment.

Before  you decide to rent or buy -  first check out the internet, phone and cable options. Often there are multiple providers OR the provider you want may not service that area.  In a few cases getting any service at all can be an issue.  Make sure that you CAN actually get service, not that it exists in the area. In some neighborhoods in larger cities the "circuits" are full and you have to go on a waiting list.

IF you move out -  pay off all your bills, KEEP the  old bills for the rest of your damn life...... LOL  Ok slight exaggeration but it seems that something can and will creep up a year or two later.......oh you didn't pay the blah blah blah...... you need to be able to prove you did in fact pay the blah blah blah.

No keep old bills for as long as you reside here.  We have 9 years of phone, power, water, cable bills on file.
And had to use our Orange file more than once.

Bob K

I still have an open case against Claro / Codetel from  10 years ago in Puerto Plata!!! Imagine.....

wow wow wow.. great advice as usual ! Thank you VERY much !  We will definitively follow your advice and pack a few candles in our suitcases in case we have to live without electricity for a few days and let's hope Ede Norte is faster than Ede Este !!

Fingers crossed honey.  Best advice,  have no expectations and be ready for anything.  A few candles is not gonna do it though.....LOL Sleeping with no fan is NOT fun at all.

Again I go back to; can  your real estate agent be of any help?? I know we took our clients to get their electric, cable, and banks set up.  Much easier to do so with someone who knows the ropes.  Yes Ede norte can take or two.  Does your property have a generator of inverter. If so you may have some electric capabilities.
Bob K

Thank you for all the help. I am moving soon as well. Is it illegal for the company to ask for you to pay extra to have your electricity turned on?? They told us 0-15 days and then said if we paid $50 extra dollars they will turn it on right away!!

May depend which company you are dealing with. It's illegal with any of the  EDE group of distributors. Not sure with private companies.

@Bob K good information and make sure you have full access at all times to your meter and electric box. Take photos immediately of the meter and review how the wiring is.

I say this to ensure your lines are not tapped into buy someone else

At least with Edenorte, on the North Coast, they haven't had any meters for about 2 years.  I have no idea how a utility company doesn't have the device to measure your consumption, but there is a LOT to be desired with Edenorte.  So for now, they connect you, or more accurately, you get your builder or anybody to connect you, and then Edenorte comes out and writes your contract number on the electrical box (sans meter), and charges you a flat rate of $5,000 RD per month.  But, getting that contract is a bit of a pain.  8 months, 10 visits, and finally they let me give them $10,000 RD deposit, and came out with a sharpie to scribble some numbers on my electrical box.  But the ongoing battle with Edenorte is a different topic, one I hope I can resolove quickly, and then can share.

@Bob K

Hello Bob Great post. I just have one question. Are these companies also operate in Punta Cana area..I will be closing my house in few months and I need to organize all the essential like, electricity,  Internet, and so on.

Thanks

This is a very old thread and Bob is no longer active.

Punta cana is serviced by a private electric company.  The main suppliers of internet and cable are Claro and Altice.