Con Edison: public issues - con edison public issues

con edison public issues

Welcome to the Con Edison Public Issues site. Here you will find detailed information about company positions and testimony on current public issues, including events in which Con Edison has been mentioned in the news. We encourage you to use this page as a resource guide to learn about Con Edison's role in policy-making decisions affecting your home, your business, your community, and the environment.

Con Edison Investing Billions to Strengthen Its Energy Delivery Systems

Since 1980, energy requirements for New York City and Westchester County grew unabated, even through economic recessions. During that time, the peak electricity demand on our system increased by 71 percent. That's an average of 2.5 percent or almost 200 MW a year - the equivalent of powering more than 200,000 homes.

On August 2, 2006, Con Edison set a record for peak electricity demand, reaching 13,141 megawatts at 5 p.m., topping a record of 13,103 megawatts the company set the day before. The New York Independent System Operator also reported a statewide peak-load record on August 2, 2006. Peak electricity demand is the greatest amount of energy supplied at a given time.

Con Edison first reached the 10,000-megawatt mark in 1988, more than 100 years after Edison's Pearl Street Generating Station began operations. Electricity demand topped 11,000 megawatts in 1997, broke the 12,000-megawatt barrier in 2001, and surpassed 13,000-megawatts in 2005.

In 2008, the country began falling into what economists have dubbed the "Great Recession," a downturn that will go into the record books as the longest, broadest-based, and most severe since the Great Depression.

The weakened economy and a mild summer depressed our customers' energy demand in 2009. The 2009 peak demand was 12,242 MW and Con Edison delivered 56,667 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, a lower number than in previous years.

We expect slower growth over the next five years for energy demand, and we have lowered our forecast for demand growth to less than one percent annually.

Despite the current difficult economic climate, New York remains a city of superlatives - the largest regional economy in the nation and the second largest in the world after Tokyo, and an intellectual capital that continues to attract the best and the brightest. Financial services, health care, and tourism, plus a plethora of higher education institutions, form the backbone of the city's economy. For visitors, New York has a magnetic appeal unrivaled by any other city. During 2009, the city led the nation in tourism for the first time in two decades.

In 2010, Con Edison expects to deliver more than 41% of New York State's 2010 peak electricity consumption.

Our EnergyNY plan will again steer our efforts to provide world-class service to our customers through three core strategies: efficiency programs, smart capital spending, and environmental responsibility. In short, EnergyNY will continue to serve as our road map for keeping our region energized.

Long Range Plans

Con Edison has created the following long range plans to outline the challenges and solutions the company anticipates during the next 20 years.

Corporate

Outreach - 20-Year Roadmap

Electric

Gas

Gas Long Range Plan

Steam

Public Service Commission Approves Electric Delivery Rate and Investment Plan

Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. received approval from the New York State Public Service Commission for a three-year rate plan, starting April 1, 2010.

The new three-year electric delivery rate plan provides long-term rate certainty for customers, and provides funding for Con Edison to continue investments needed to maintain system readiness and operating reliability.

The following are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the new rates. For more detailed information on the filing, visit Investor Relations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Con Edison rate plan include?

The plan includes a levelized annual increase of approximately $420 million in each of the three years, April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2013. Once again, increased taxes drive a substantial portion of the rate plan, accounting for approximately 30 percent of the overall increase.

How will this affect customers’ bills?

A typical New York City residential customer using 300 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month would see a total bill increase of approximately $3.63 per month in the first year. A typical Westchester County residential customer, using 450 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, would see a total bill increase of approximately $5.04 per month in the first year.

What is the basis for the new rate increase?

The main driving forces are rising property taxes, other taxes and fees, and the need to invest in infrastructure, operating expenses, and pension costs.

Is the company taking any steps to reduce costs?

The company has worked diligently to hold down the increase in delivery costs, both through measures that reflect greater efficiencies and continued stringent cost-controls, and through financial adjustments spreading costs out to the future.

Tough austerity measures to hold down spending also are included in the new rate plan.

What steps has the company taken to help customers conserve energy?

We promote energy saving tips to customers through subway and newspaper messages, brochures, Power of Green pages on the Con Edison Web site and on Facebook by searching Power of Green.

Con Edison also offers incentives to businesses and large residential buildings to install energy-efficient fixtures in neighborhoods where energy demand is reaching capacity.

Recently, Con Edison launched new energy efficiency programs for eligible small businesses and homeowners that include free energy surveys and rebates for those who upgrade their heating, cooling and hot-water systems. For small businesses, Con Edison will provide free energy audits and give substantial rebates to companies that make major energy efficiency upgrades. Residential customers can take advantage of rebates for installing the most efficient heating, cooling and hot-water equipment.

Free programmable thermostats are available to customers with central air-conditioning. We are awaiting approval on additional efficiency programs that will give our customers even more ways to better manage their energy use.

We also have programs where we pay businesses that help us temporarily reduce their electricity use during heat waves, and other events that strain our electric grid. For more information, visit Energy Efficiency.

What programs do you have to help people pay their bills?

We have several programs to help customers pay their bills. Customers can take advantage of level payment plans so that they can spread out their energy expenses evenly throughout the year.

We also offer Deferred Payment Agreements to help customers pay out a balance over several months - a down payment is required and then installments are due each subsequent month in addition to the current bill. Customers who need a little extra time to pay the bill can ask for an extension.

A host of programs and grants are available to income-eligible customers. Our EnergyShare Program offers income-eligible customers one-time grants of up to $200 toward their bills. Also, customers who are eligible can also apply for a Home Energy Assistance Program grant through New York State.

For customers age 62 and over whose Con Edison bills are less than $420 a year, we have the Quarterly Billing Plan. Also, our CONCERN Program (enrollment required if you are age 62 or older, or blind or permanently disabled) gives customers access to specially trained representatives who can advise about government aid programs, provide safety tips, and explain ways to save money on energy bills.

For more information, visit Customer Central.

Con Edison Files Gas Rate and Investment Plan

Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. has submitted a proposal to the New York State Public Service Commission for a new gas rate and investment plan to take effect October 1, 2010. The filing proposes two options: a three-year, levelized rate increase or a one-year rate increase. Under the three-year proposal, a typical residential heating customer paying $242 per month would see an increase of $16 (6.6%). A typical business paying $390 per month would see an increase of $17 (4.4%). Under the one-year proposal, a typical residential heating customer paying $242 per month would see an increase of about $22, or a 9.1% rise. A typical business paying $390 per month would see an increase of about $26, or a 6.7% rise.

For more detailed information on the filing, click here.

Con Edison Files Steam Rate Increase Request

Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. submitted a proposal to the New York State Public Service Commission for a new steam rate and investment plan filing to take effect October 1, 2010 on November 6, 2009. The company proposed two options. The first option is a four-year plan that would increase rates approximately $66.1 million each year of the plan or by 9.4% percent annually. The second option is a one year plan to increase rates by $128.8 million in October 2010. For more detailed information on the proposal filing, click here.

Shaping New York Energy Policy

Con Edison plays a key role in shaping New York energy policy. As a way to help our customers and other energy market participants understand current energy issues and Con Edison's proposals to address those issues, the company has submitted several policy recommendations to the State Energy Planning process. This process was instituted in March 2008 by executive order of Governor Paterson to create a state energy plan focused on appropriate energy supplies and managing energy demand for the future. More information is available at the state energy plan Web site http://www.nysenergyplan.com

Policy Recommendation Documents:

Comments on these proposals are welcome via e-mail at corpcom@coned.com.

Transformer Efficiency Standards

Con Edison joined a number of the country’s other largest utilities recently as a signatory to a letter urging the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to adopt more-stringent energy efficiency standards for electric distribution transformers. The majority of the distribution transformers in use on the Con Edison system already meets the proposed higher standard and has been operating at that level for many years.

In the letter to the Secretary of Energy, the companies argued that more efficient transformers would not only save energy and cut pollution from power plants but also would save the companies money, and thereby help to lower energy costs for their customers. According to DOE’s own analysis, the benefits would exceed the costs by $11.1 billion nationally over 28 years.

In addition, DOE’s analysis shows that adopting the higher standard will save 459 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, reduce peak load by 6,600 megawatts, and eliminate 252.3 million metric tons of associated carbon dioxide emissions, 70.9 thousand tons of nitrogen oxide emissions and 4.5 tons of mercury emissions between 2010 and 2038.

Because the transformers the utility industry installs under these standards will be in use for many decades, it is important to make sure the national minimum standards achieve as much cost-effective savings as possible. Con Edison supports using appliance and equipment standards to save customers money on energy bills and help slow the rate of peak electric demand growth.