Con Edison rate hike leaves New Yorkers struggling with soaring summer electric bills

Con Edison was approved for a 9 percent delivery charge increase over a three-year period but some residents feel they are seeing prices increase steeply over one year.

GARY JEAN-JUSTE

The adjusted bill makes more sense.”

Tao Moran, Con Edison customer

Con Edison users are struggling to keep pace as summer bill prices continue to rise. 

Last July, Con Edison was approved for a rate hike by the public service commission for a nearly 9 percent increase in electric bills for customers over the next three years. By early 2025, customers paying residential billing could pay nearly $65 more a month. 

Short for Consolidated Edison, the company has serviced New York City and Westchester County for almost 200 years, beginning in 1823 to bring electricity, gas and steam to residents.

Tao Moran is a Riverdale resident. She says her bill has risen nearly 45 percent over the last month. 

“I definitely understand it’s summer, the prices are going up, but I had a jump in July,” Moran said. 

Moran’s bill from the month of July was $278, higher than a typical month’s bill already, and when her August bill came in the mail it read an all-time high of $394.

According to data from Con Edison, the company predicts a typical city resident using 350 kilowatt hours every month should anticipate a 10.9 percent increase from last summer’s billing to pay for a monthly bill priced at $141.06 for the months of June through September. 

The increase anticipated by Con Edison comes from not just the public service commission’s rate hike but the expectation of a hotter summer than last, which has proven to be accurate, given the numerous heat waves city residents have seen in the last two and a half months. 

Rate hikes would see an overall 9 percent increase over the three years but in the first year Con Edison predicts a 4.3 percent increase. 

Moran’s August bill indicates she will be charged for using 942 kilowatt hours for the month, nearly double the number that Con Edison states is the average usage of 350 kilowatt hours. She says her bill typically costs her anywhere from $130 to $170 and the highest price she’s ever paid for a bill is $197, but with the last two months she’s now struggling to afford her Con Edison bill. 

According to Moran, she spent a week trying to contact someone at the company to visit her home and read her meter to ensure the pricing is accurate but, after frustrations over the automated system, she chose to go online and change the way her bill is delivered.

Moran will now pay a flat rate of $178 for every month rather than being surprised every month with a new high or low bill. 

“The adjusted bill makes more sense,” Moran said. 

According to Con Edison spokesperson Elisabeth Ferrari, the cost breakdown in a customer’s bill includes the supply charge, transmission and distribution charge, and taxes and fees.

Supply charges are the cost of the actual energy coming into the home. This energy is purchased by Con Edison and Ferrari says it is sold back to customers at the price it’s purchased for, meaning this is not where the company makes its profit. 

The transmission and distribution charge, also known as the delivery charge, is the price customers pay for the company to deliver the energy to their residence safely. Delivery charges are determined by the state public service commission. Taxes and fees are established by the government and Ferrari said Con Ed have no control over these prices. 

In May, Con Ed announced it would invest $2.3 billion into strengthening the energy grid in preparation for the state’s eventual transition to clean energy sources. This investment has also been factored into the billing of customers. 

Con Ed has established delivery rates depending on the time of the year and time of day, with pricing measured in dollars per kilowatt. June 1 through Sept. 30 are summer peak months, with pricing at its highest of $23.55 per kilowatt and Oct. 1 through May 31 are non-summer peak months priced at $18.12 per kilowatt.

The year-round off-peak hours are the lowest delivery amount at $6.95 per kilowatt. Con Ed said off-peak hours are from 8 p.m. through noon during the regular business week. 

Due to the determination of peak and off-peak hours, Con Ed also offers suggestions to customers on the best time to run high-energy-usage items, like using laundry machines or run the dishwasher after 8 p.m.

“Con Edison encourages customers to use energy wisely this summer and consider enrolling in an energy efficiency program to save money and help the environment,” a passage in the company’s May billing statement reads. 

Moran is not the only resident struggling to afford her latest Con Edison bill and, while heat waves understandably drive costs up — with residents sticking to air conditioned rooms, as prices continue to rise — there’s no end in sight and people are left unclear what to do.