Con Edison plant on the East River (Wikimedia Commons)
Jan. 17, 2020 By Kristen Torres
New Yorkers will be paying more for gas and electricity.
The state’s Public Service Commission signed off on an agreement with Con Edison Thursday that allows the company to raise customer rates incrementally over the next three years.
Under the plan, the cost of electricity for residents who use about 600 kilowatt hours per month will rise 4.2 percent this year– equating to about $5 per month. In 2021, their bill will rise an additional 4.7 per and in 2022 it will go up again by 4 percent.
Gas rate hikes will be even larger with a 7.5 percent jump this year for residents who use about 100 therms per month. Those users will then see an increase of 8.8 percent and 7.2 percent in the following years.
The commission said that the final increases were a fraction of what the company had initially proposed.
“The progressive plan we have adopted…benefits customers and includes provisions that further important state and Commission objectives,” said John Rhodes, Commission Chair of the PSC.
However, the hike drew criticism from local leaders like Council Member Costa Constantinides who said it would hurt low-income earners.
Constantinides said in a statement that the PSC had put the needs of the fossil fuel industry before city residents.
“Commissioners gave Con Edison their blessing to raise rates off the backs of people already struggling to pay their bills,” Constantinides said in a statement. “History will be unkind to this decision.”
Con Edison says it will spend the additional revenue on its gas and electric infrastructure, as well as to tackle climate change.
