KLondon

I've done a fair amount of questioning on this and so far no one has given me an actual answer, so I figured someone in here may have had a similar situation

Before arriving in CA, I was told to activate Gas and Electric... of course this was almost impossible having no SS number.

I have now received my SS Num and managed to turn gas on easily, electric on the other hand is proving a little harder.

They told me I couldn't do it without a SS Num, I now have my SS Num and they tell me the number is too new and they can't activate my account.

They wouldn't say at what point it becomes 'not too new' and want me to go to the office to pay $$$ deposits etc.

Has any one else had this ? How long did you have to wait until you could just register as normal ?

Michael

Generally it has nothing to do with your SSN but your credit history or some require a deposit if you have a break in service. In my case, I had to place a deposit since I terminated my electric service at one address and didn't activate it at the new address for more than 30 days. However, it wasn't a big deal since the deposit was used to apply to my monthly bills until it was used up.

Jerseygirl

That sound about right. We arranged gas and electric before we moved from the UK...think we had to leave a hefty deposit.

jeffreyhy

Every once in a while the SSA has to add a new series of numbers as the series already established are used up. They publish a list of valid series that many entities check against to verify that the SSN someone has given can be a valid number. I suspect that your electric supplier checks SSNs against the list and that you have been given a SSN that's in a new series not shown on the list that the electric supplier is working from.

Regards, JEff

rallybug

I had a similar problem on trying to be added to my wife's account at RC Willey (local furniture store chain) - they wouldn't accept my number as entered, so I had to take my SS card down. Before June 2011 (I think it was), SS numbers were based on the zip code you listed on the application, but after that date new numbers came into effect that companies had never seen before.

They seem to be very slow at updating their records to show the new number options.

jeffreyhy

Zip codes came into existence circa 1963. But until 1972 the area number segment of a SSN (the first 3 digits) represented the state in which the office that issued the number was located. With a few exceptions.

When SSNs started being assigned centrally, rather than by the local offices, in 1972, the area number was assigned by state based on the zip code of the mailing address shown in the application.

There was, until June of 2011, an interesting approach to assigning the group number (the next 2 digits) and the serial number (the last 4 digits) segments of the SSN.

The randomized approach of assigning number that was initiated in June of 2011 threw out all of the earler rules. So, it seems that the lists I referred to in my earlier post no longer apply - the last list was issued on June 24, 2011. Maybe some businesses are not yet up to speed on the new method of assigning numbers.

Regards, JEff

Bob

Along with most utilities, you need to put a deposit down because you've got no credit history.

SSN doesn't have anything to do with it.

Might need to speak to a supervisor about it though as their software is probably not designed to work without it, so other ID such as passport number has to be manually entered. It's just like at a bank.

GeoffM

After 11 months in the US we moved house and still had to put down deposits for water and gas (electricity was with the same supplier). All companies are different: in the first house after just 2 weeks in the US I did everything online without hassle, albeit with deposits; in the second I had to go visit their offices in person (gas, water, and trash) which was a PITA and most of a day wasted. "How high" comes to mind.

I did have an issue with my SSN as well. It starts with a 1 which the bank wasn't expecting and queried it - they wanted to see the actual card for proof. They said they were expecting 6-9 (rest of family is 7 prefix I think) which is a bit odd as they're supposedly pseudo-random these days.

jeffreyhy

The bank person might still have been thinking of the old system, where area numbers starting with '1' indicated NY, NJ, or PA. (Need the full 3 digits to distinguish which state, not just the first digit.) California area numbers were 545-573 and 602-626. A first digit of '7' could have been Hawaii, Mississippi, Tennessee, or Arizona, or 1 of 2 oddball categories not state related.

Regards, JEff

GeoffM

Would have been a PA number had it meant anything.

KLondon

Ah the credit history makes more sense, the guy at DWP told me it was because my SS number was new :/

I'll pop down there to sort it out then, thanks for your help again

K

p.s. I'm sure I'll have another question or ten over the next few weeks

RICH

Its' not about the SSN, or even necessarily credit history. When I got divorced, the electric was in our joint names (I had ssn and ok credit). I had the electric turned on in my potential new home for the home inspection, no problem, as i was a customer in good standing etc. Turned it off again after a week. In the end it took several months to close, and my good standing apparently expired. I had to pay a deposit of $250 odd to get connected, and after 2 years of new good standing, they applied the deposit to my subsequent bills.
(FL not CA)

Edit: Actually to be acurate, when we were married, and later moved house, I got the electric in my name only, by paying a similar deposit. When we divorced, we transferred it to her only, which I suppose started the end of my good standing.

rallybug

Similar here for our gas - we got my name added as the primary on the gas bill before I moved over (and before I had an SSN). Questar hit us with a deposit, and then when I provided my SSN, they put the deposit against the bills for a while until it was cleared - a good time to do it, Utah in winter