Living in Bard College, NY: what to set up and who to call
Bard College has no town government of its own, so Dutchess County runs its elections and most services, and its children attend Red Hook Central School District. Tap water in most of Bard College comes from the Bard College water system, which has a clean five-year EPA record (about 22% of systems its size had a health-based violation) and a latest lead result of 0.5 ppb.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Bard College, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Bard College.
Power comes from Central Hudson Gas & Elec
Central Hudson Gas & Elec (Central Hudson Gas & Elec Corp), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Bard College. Its homes paid an average of 27.7¢ per kWh in 2025, about $193 a month (its average across New York, for customers on its standard service). New York lets you buy power from another supplier; 9% of Central Hudson Gas & Elec’s home customers do, and Central Hudson Gas & Elec still delivers it.
Start or move service: centralhudson.com · (845) 452-2700
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Bard College water system
The Bard College water system supplies Bard College: about 73% of residents live in its service area. About 27% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws surface water (EPA lists Red Hook Water District #1 Town as seller) and serves 1,400 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 78% of the 7,966 systems serving 1,001–3,300 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2024–Dec 2026, was 0.5 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s lower than 60% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0 (EPA’s estimate). Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. NY1313839.
Which providers serve Bard College
This card will list the home internet providers the FCC’s National Broadband Map shows in Bard College, the share of addresses that can get 100/20 Mbps and the share with fiber, with the map’s “as of” date.
Source to come: FCC Broadband Data Collection.
We don’t have Bard College’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Bard College.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Bard College is in Red Hook Central School District.
Test scores and every school: see Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
No town hall: the county runs things
Bard College is unincorporated, so Dutchess County is the local government.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated May 2021; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Bard College spans 2 ZIP codes
ZIP codes where Bard College residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Bard College | ZIP’s residents in Bard College |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12504 | Annandale On Hudson, NY | 93% | 100% |
| 12571 | Red Hook, NY | 7% | 0% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Bard College
Who supplies Bard College’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
The Bard College water system (EPA ID NY1313839). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 78% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 0.5 ppb (Jan 2024–Dec 2026), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Bard College?
Central Hudson Gas & Elec (Central Hudson Gas & Elec Corp), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 27.7¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What ZIP codes are in Bard College?
12504 (93%), 12571 (7%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Bard College in?
Red Hook Central School District.
How do I register to vote in Bard College?
In New York you can register online until 10 days before Election Day, in person until 10 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before and received 10 days before). Elections here are run by the Dutchess County Board of Elections. Check your registration at voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet (FCC): pending.