The NY State Department of Public Services is holding a public statement hearing in regard to Con Edison’s proposed rate increase.  

In January 2019, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con Edison or Company) requested that the New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) approve proposed increases in its electric and gas rates. Con Edison serves approximately three and a half million customers in New York City and Westchester County.

 

New York State Department of Public Service (DPS) Staff is in the process of evaluating whether- or to what extent - a rate increase is justified and is in the public interest. DPS Staff represents the public interest in these proceedings and evaluates such requests with the goal of ensuring safe and reliable service at just and reasonable rates. Review of the filings is also underway by other parties to these proceedings. The information contained in this factsheet does not reflect DPS Staffs ongoing evaluation of the proposals.

 

Informational Forums and Public Statement Hearings

The Commission is seeking public comment on Con Edison's proposed increases to electric and gas delivery rates. Interested members of the public are invited to attend the public statement hearings and provide comments regarding the proposals. Each hearing will be proceeded by an informational forum where a Con Edison representative will provide an overview of the Company's proposals and DPS Staff will explain the review process it conducts pursuant to the Public Service Law and how individuals can participate. It is not necessary to make an appointment in advance or present written material in order to speak at the hearing. *

 

The dates, times and locations are as follows:

Date           Location       Time

 

Grinton I. Will Branch

1500 Central Park Avenue

Yonkers, NY 10710

 

Afternoon Forum - 1:00pm

Afternoon Hearing - 2:00pm

Evening Forum - 6:00pm

Evening Hearing - 7:00pm

 

 

 

4th Floor Boardroom

90 Church Street

New York, NY 1 0007

 

Afternoon Forum - 2:00pm

Afternoon Hearing - 3:00pm

 

Evening Forum - 6:00pm

Evening Hearing - 7:00pm

 

 

 

On January 31, 2019, Con Edison filed for new electric and gas rates to be effective beginning January 1, 2020. According to the filing, the Company's primary goals are to build the infrastructure needed to provide safe and reliable electric and gas service at a reasonable cost while implementing new state-of-the-art technology to better serve its customers. Con Edison asserts that it is focusing on three objectives to achieve its goals:

1) public and employee safety;

2) operational excellence; and,

3) enhancing the customer experience.

 

Proposed Rates:

An electric or gas bill consists of two parts: delivery and supply. The delivery charge is the cost to transport the electricity or gas to customers throughout the utility's system. This delivery charge is regulated by the Commission. The supply charge is the cost of the electricity or gas itself. This cost is determined by the competitive markets and is not set by the Commission or the utility.

 

Con Edison's proposed rate request is designed to increase the Company's annual electric delivery revenues by approximately $485 million (an 8.6% increase in delivery revenues, or 4.6% increase in total revenues). The Company is also seeking to increase its annual gas delivery revenues by approximately $210 million (a 14.5% increase in delivery revenues, or 9.1% increase in total revenues). If the proposed rate requests were to be approved, the Company estimates that the electric delivery revenue increase would result in an average monthly delivery bill increase of $7.74, or 8.6% (from $138.55 to $146.29), or an average total bill increase of 5.6% for residential customers using 600 kWh per month. The requested gas delivery revenue increase would result in a monthly delivery bill increase of $17.29, or 15.8% (from $109.58 to $126.87), or a total bill increase of 10.9% for a residential heating customer using 100 therms per month.

 

Major Rate Case Components:

• Information Technology (IT)- Con Edison proposes funding to replace, upgrade, or install new IT related applications including the replacement of its Customer Service System, upgrade its Outage Management System, and install of a new Enterprise Geographic Information System. ·

• Electric Equipment Replacement and Upgrade - Con Edison proposes funding related to the replacement and upgrades of certain transmission feeders and substation components to improve operational and environmental performance.

• Storm Preparedness- The Company proposes expenditures to increase storm resilience.

• Gas Pipeline Replacement- The Company proposes to replace 90 miles of leak prone pipe annually, as well as upgrade the transmission system from the Bronx to White Plains in Westchester County.

• Gas Service Line Inspections- The Company proposes additional funding to perform inspections related to updated definition of service line which requires Con Edison to perform comprehensive leak surveys and atmospheric corrosion inspections for inside meters.

 

The full text of the rate case may be viewed online at DPS's www.dos.ny.gov website. From the Homepage, click on "Search," and enter the case number (19-E-0065 or 19-G-0066) in the "Search by Case Number" field.

The Commission strongly believes that obtaining public input is a critical component of the rate setting process. Stakeholders, such as consumers, government agencies and officials, public interest and environmental groups, and industry representatives, are invited to participate in the process review the proposals and submit comments.

An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will preside over the gathering of public comments and all evidence relating to the rate requests. The Commission must consider a utility's proposal and may adopt or reject it in whole or in part or modify it by adopting changes proposed by participating parties, the public or the Commission.

There are several ways to participate in the rate case review process, including:

 

~ Become a Party: Some individuals or groups participate in rate cases by becoming a party in the case. Becoming a party to a case enables an individual or group to contribute to the development of a complete record by conducting discovery, submitting testimony, briefs, or other formal written comments, and participating in evidentiary hearings, procedural conferences and other formal events conducted in the case.

Instructions on how to request party status in the Con Edison cases may be found in the

Commission's Notice of Technical and Procedural Conference issued on February 21 , 2019.

The notice is available online at DPS's www.dps.ny.gov website. From the homepage, click on "Search," and enter the case number (19-E-0065 or 19-G-0066) in the "Search by Case Number" field.

~ Join the Service List: Interested persons who wish to monitor the proceedings of a particular case can do so without the formal commitment to become a party to the proceeding. The persons who subscribe to the service list of a case will receive an e-mail with a direct link to the documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulings. Persons unable or unwilling to receive such electronic notification will receive hard copies of Commission-issued documents by regular mail.

To register online, click on the "Subscribe to Service List" link at the top of the page for Cases 19-E-0065 and 19-G-0066. A "Service List and Mail Service List Request Form" can be downloaded from the site and the completed form sent by e-mail to Han. Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary at secretary@dps.ny.gov or by mail to: Secretary, Public Service Commission,Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223-1350.

~ Monitor the Case on the Commission Website:

 Interested persons who choose not to sign up to receive e-mail notifications can view our website at their convenience to check on the status of a case. All documents filed by parties, correspondence, hearing transcripts, and Commission issued documents in a given case are posted on the website. All comments submitted by the public are posted under the 'public comments' tab for the case. Provide Comments: All comments can be submitted at the public statement hearings held at the end of June or through the methods below:

 

• Via the Department's Website: Comments may also be entered directly into the case by locating the case via the home page of the Commission's website, www.dps.ny.gov. by clicking on "Search," and entering the associated case number (19-E-0065 or 19-G-0066) in the "Search by Case Number' field. After clicking to open the case, enter comments in the "Post Comments" section located at the top of

the page.

 

• Via Mail/E-Mail: Submit comments electronically to Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary, at secretary@dps.ny.gov or by mail or delivery to Secretary Burgess at the Department of Public Service, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350. Comments delivered in these manners should reference "Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Rate Case (19-E-0065 and 19-G-0066)".

 

• Via Toll-Free Opinion Line: Individuals may choose to submit comments by calling the Commission's toll-free Opinion Line at 1-800-335-2120. This line is set up to receive instate calls 24-hours a day. Comments received via the Opinion Line are not transcribed, but a summary is provided to the Commission for their consideration.

Comments submitted via these alternative means will be accepted at any point while this proceeding is pending but are requested by September 30, 2019 to ensure full consideration.

 

 

All comments will become part of the record considered by the Commission