anyway to figure out how much electricity the boiler is using?

It may not be the boiler. Other apartments or common areas may be running on your meter. If you are able to access the meter, turn off all electric appliances, lights and unplug all instant-on devices and chargers in your apt. Then go to the meter and see whether it is still spinning. If it is, call Con Ed and/or your landlord.

Since this is your first bill maybe it's an estimate? Call Con Ed and check with them.

not to be coy, but is there anything that is fed directly from the meter other than your breakers?

A while ago we learned that the light for the courtyard was fed by our meter. It "took power" after the meter, but before it went to the set of breakers in our apt.

Savings = $20 a month

I still think it could be another apartment, or even outlets in the common areas used for vacuuming or whatever.

1. Turn off all of your breakers

2. Go down stairs to where you meter is.

3. Is meter still turning?

4. If answer to 3 = Yes, then see if you can see more than one "out wire" from the meter. Or, a split prior to your circuit breakers. Follow you power up the stairwell, or where ever it runs to your apartment.

5. Be suspicious of splits that go away from your apartment.

Each FLOOR has its own meter or each apartment (unit)?

Yes. The wheels under the dials.

One more question: does your apartment have baseboard (I.e. Electric) heating? That could be the problem.

Now for fun with the flashlight!

To determine whether the boiler runs off your meter, do the following:

1. Find boiler in basement. Locate (but do not push) reset button on the boiler. This will likely be located on the electric thing that looks like a motor near the floor.

2. Turn up thermostat or wait for a while boiler blower to turn on all by itself.

When boiler is on, turn off all circuits. Did boiler turn off as you turned off your breakers?

3. Confirmation test: While leaving your breakers off, go to basement again, this time with flashlight. Be careful not to trip.

4. Push reset button on boiler blower. If nothing happens, it has no power because it runs off your breakers.

Another theory: Electric hot water heater runs off Mike's circuits and someone in building takes long showers. (it may have a reset button as well).

....we wait with baited breath

Also, if you're in new construction, even more reason to think that something was wrongly wired - in our 8 unit building, 4 of the units had criss-crossed metering for the outdoor A/C compressor units.

addendum: All that is needed is a hot wire #14 or even less off of any electrical source in your apartment, not even a ground. The relay is in my lair. Any suspicion, I yank that #14 out of the ceiling.

If I was even smarter I'd only use your electric for my interior room hemp farm to heat light and ventilate 24/7 and leave the lights on my existing legitimate electric account.

@whynot - I'm a little confused with your boiler test, can you reexplain?

I added words and commas.

see the red switch on the right? ...with the paper tag near it?

It will turn off power to the whole unit.

but before we do any of that, let's follow the electrical piping (rookie hint: silver thin piping, not copper piping) to see if it is fed by something BEFORE your meter. If it is fed before your meter, this beast ain't your problem. Go no further, leave this beast and its switches alone.

As modsquad points out, this thing:

http://mikelightman.com/up/boiler03.jpg

is your burner/blower. It will likely have a reset switch on it somewhere on the right side.

However, if your meter isn't turning and this thing is making noise, we can safely conclude that it is getting power from somewhere else and it isn't running up your bill.

....this will allow you to save yourself the fun of reseting it and/or flipping the switch; as modsquad states, I am beginning to think your energy hog is elsewhere.

...or you have a bad meter as mentioned above.