Target: Timothy P. Cawley, Chairman, President, & CEO of Consolidated Edison, Inc.
Goal: Urge Con Edison to address price increases and release information to the public.
Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. (Con Edison) is the only electricity provider available to New York residents. The investor-owned monopoly group, who took power in 1998, has a history of spotty coverage, long customer response times, blackouts, “preemptive outages,” and volatile pricing. Amidst the giant’s most recent, virtually unannounced, record-breaking rate increase, lawmakers are calling for more stringent regulation and a probe into the state’s private electricity source.
Electricity prices for the New York / New Jersey area jumped 28.2% from December to January 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marks the highest month-to-month rate jump since 1971; all the while natural gas prices experienced no such increase. Con Ed also just proposed an across the board rate hike of 11% that would take effect in 2023 and bring in $695 million in revenue for the company.
This recent unexpected price increase aggravates an already financially strapped populace. With inflation rising at its highest rate in forty years (according to Insider.com), the closing of New York State’s utility shut-off moratorium and swelling unemployed percentages, Con Edison must be held publicly accountable as an aggressor. The state’s Public Service Commission has already issued a request to Con Ed soliciting information and details regarding the utility’s billing practices and possible alternative practices, and we demand that Con Edison agree.
Non-public entities that disseminate necessary public resources are bad news. Investor-owned utility businesses are subject to corruption, greed and influence (consider National Grid’s 2021 bribery case) and endanger the housing rights of the people they serve. The electricity rates premiered in January are unsustainable and, if made consistent, risk pricing out certain vulnerable tenants. We support local lawmakers and the Public Service Commission, and demand that Con Edison release their billing practices and make transparent their price assessments as well as their product source prices.
Demand that if we must continue to have private groups responsible for absolutely necessary public resources, that at the very least their workings be transparent, equitable and revenue-free.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mr. Cawley,
In December 2021, as the utility shut-off moratorium came to a close, Con Ed sent out 128,299 termination of utility notices to its New York residences. In January 2022, customers experienced their highest month-to-month rate increase in fifty years while simultaneously battling history-making inflation and unemployment rates.
New Yorkers do not have options when it comes to electricity providers and are regrettably subject to your business’ mysterious, inconsistent pricing, disregard for customer service requests, and spotty coverage. As a private entity who provides an absolutely necessary public service, your company’s workings, billing practices, product sources and pricing model should be public information. We demand that you heed to the request made by the Public Service Commission and release such information so that they may be studied by the public.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Beyond My Ken
The behavior of this, and other utility companies, is unconscionable, unethical and unacceptable.