Con Edison has invested $1.3 billion in its electric-delivery
systems to keep service reliable this summer while continuing to be
a leader in adding new technologies to build a clean energy future.
Con Edison is preparing for a typically hot New York summer and
one that brings the additional challenge of protecting the public
and employees during the coronavirus health emergency.
The company projects summer bills for typical New York City
residential customers will be higher this summer due to more people
staying home, as well as increased supply charges by power
generators. In Westchester County, supply charges may result in
slightly lower bills for typical residential customers, depending
on usage.
Con Edison does not make a profit on these supply charges and
has taken steps to defer some of those costs, as customers struggle
financially through the pandemic.
Con Edison is working with customers on payment plans, has
suspended turnoffs for non-payment and is waiving new late fees.
The company advises that the best way for customers to manage their
bills is to conserve on energy. Con Edison has a variety of energy
efficiency programs for residential and commercial customers and
offers energy-saving tips.
Conservation can be particularly important for residential
customers who are spending more time in their homes during the
pandemic. (Listen to a Con Edison expert talk about ways to save
energy at home.)
A typical New York City residential customer using 350 kilowatt
hours per month can expect a 9.5 percent increase from $99.14 in
2019 to $108.53 per month in the June-to-September period. A
typical Westchester residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours
per month can expect an average decrease of 3 percent from $121.32
in 2019 to $117.63 per month.
A New York City business customer using 10,800 kilowatt hours
with a peak demand of 31 kilowatts can expect average monthly
summer bills to increase from $2,203.94 in 2019 to $2,320.15 this
year.
“Safe, reliable power is essential for New Yorkers, particularly
during the health crisis,” said Tim Cawley, the president of Con
Edison. “We continue to invest to keep our system reliable and are
accelerating the integration of clean technologies onto the grid.
We also realize that these are difficult times for our customers
and have taken steps to ease the financial burden and help them
stay safe. Defeating the coronavirus requires a collective effort
and the women and men of Con Edison are keenly focused on doing our
part.”
Investments in Reliability, Clean
Energy
While the company has put some work on hold, crews
continue with work that ensures summer reliability, emergency work,
and other essential projects.
Company crews have installed new cable and transformers on the
underground and overhead delivery systems. The upgrades also
include network protectors and work at substations. The upgrades
cover all regions of the company’s 604-square-mile New York City
and Westchester County service area.
In southeast Brooklyn, the crews have replaced 101 sections of
underground cable and installed six new switches that isolate
faults, reduce outages and allow for faster restoration of
customers.
In Westchester County, the company has continued with its $100
million storm fortification program, installing new poles, cable
and switches to toughen the overhead system against storms. Storms
often follow heat waves when warm, moist air fills the
atmosphere.
A project to enhance service in the northeast area of Staten
Island replaced 170 spans of overhead conductor, 110 poles and 20
transformers. The project also includes the addition of four smart
switches to the grid.
Con Edison is also applying its engineering expertise to take
stress off certain equipment in the southwest area of the Bronx,
where the demand for power has grown. The company is transferring
6.6 megawatts of customer demand from one set of underground cables
to another set that has capacity to accommodate the load. The
project involves installing new cable and 2,000 feet of
conduit.
Impact of Health Emergency
Con Edison’s initial projection for peak demand for
electricity this summer was 13,220 megawatts under design weather
conditions. But if major restrictions on opening businesses remain
in place, demand could peak at 12,000 megawatts under design
conditions. The record is 13,322 megawatts, which occurred at 5
p.m. on July 19, 2013.
The company expects that more people staying at home due to the
pandemic will result in less demand for power in highly commercial
areas, such as Midtown Manhattan. But demand in residential areas
will increase, particularly on weekdays, as people who are home
during the day use their air conditioners and other appliances.
Con Edison will take temporary steps if extreme heat and high
energy usage place stress on the grid. Those steps would include
sending mobile generators to areas in need.
Con Edison crews working in the streets practice social
distancing with each other and the public and use face coverings
when the requirements of the work make social distancing not
possible. They follow the guidelines of the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Emerging Battery Technology & Clean
Solar
Battery technology has improved rapidly in recent
years, providing Con Edison with another tool to help keep service
reliable when the demand for power soars on hot summer days.
Con Edison and its partner GI Energy have placed a battery
system at a customer property on the North Shore of Staten Island.
Under an agreement, Con Edison can discharge power into the grid at
times of high demand. The system can provide 1 megawatt – or 1
million watts, making it a 1-megwatt/1 megawatt-hour system.
Con Edison has a 2-megawatt/10.6-megawatt-hour battery system on
company property in Ozone Park, Queens. The system, which the
company debuted last year, discharges power into the local grid at
times of high demand, taking stress off the electric-delivery
equipment upstream of the system.
Con Edison partnered with Enel X to install a
4-megawatt/16-megawatt-hour battery system – the largest in New
York City - at the Gateway Center shopping center in Brooklyn’s
East New York neighborhood. Con Edison also encourages customers to
consider whether solar energy is right for them. Customers have
completed nearly 32,000 solar projects that produce 290 megawatts
of clean, renewable power. That is equal to 381,800 megawatt hours
a year, enough to prevent 270,000 tons of carbon emissions, or the
equivalent of more than 58,000 cars off the road.
Counting combined heat and power, fuel cells and batteries, Con
Edison customers provide more than 500 megawatts of power via
distributed energy resources.
Save More with Energy Efficiency
Upgrades
Customers can save money by using less energy. Con
Edison offers customers incentives to make money-saving upgrades to
their homes and businesses. For this summer, Con Edison is offering
residential customers:
- A $50 discount for buying a smart thermostat at Con Edison
Marketplace and another $85 for registering it with Con Edison’s
Bring Your Own Thermostat (BYOT) Program.
- Rebates on heat pumps (mini-splits and geothermal systems) that
can also cool your home.
Con Edison is offering incentives for commercial and industrial
customers. They include:
- Rebates on Energy Star and DesignLights Consortium-qualified
lamps. Speak to your lighting distributor for details.
- Savings for upgrading to more efficient LED lighting. Get up to
$300 per LED fixture. See more information on available
incentives.
- Small and medium-size businesses can get a free, no-obligation
energy assessment of their facility. Con Edison will pay up to 70
percent of the cost for qualified lighting, HVAC, refrigeration and
gas system upgrades.
Since 2009, Con Edison’s energy efficiency programs have helped
more than 1 million customers make upgrades preventing 6.8 million
tons of carbon emissions. That’s the equivalent of more than 1.4
million cars taken off the road for one year.
Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. [NYSE:
ED], one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies,
with approximately $13 billion in annual revenues and $59 billion
in assets. The utility delivers electricity, natural gas and steam
to 3.4 million customers in New York City and Westchester County,
N.Y. For financial, operations and customer service information,
visit www.conEd.com.
CONNECT WITH US:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConEdisonTwitter: https://twitter.com/conedisonYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/conedisonnyFlickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/conedison/sets/72157627767618832/
Contact:
Media
Relations212-460-4111
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/880ceb04-dc43-4bf8-a890-321524074c0e
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/68852d25-73a0-4225-9dec-3537adb85a1a
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2689dd12-be4d-4cb4-ab39-de7e1248f950
Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024