Congressman Dan Goldman Urges NYS Department of Public Service to Reject Con-Ed's Proposed Double-Digit Rate Increases

Nearly Half a Million NY Households Already Behind on their Utility Bills

New York, NY – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) joined Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-17), Congressman Jerry Nadler (NY-12), Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (NY-07), Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) and Congresswoman Grace Meng (NY-06) today in sending a letter to the New York State Department of Public Service CEO Rory Christian urging him to reject Con Edison’s proposed utility rate hikes, which would raise prices for millions of New Yorkers across the city and state. 

“We write to express our objection to Consolidated Edison’s (Con Edison’s) recent request to raise electric rates by 11.4% and natural gas rates by 13.3%.While Con Edison reported higher- than-expected profits in Q3 2024, working-class New Yorkers are already struggling with extraordinary burdens due to years of high prices. These rate hikes will only make it harder to make ends meet or, worse, lead to devastating shutoffs,” the members wrote. 

Con Edison’s proposed rate increase comes on top of an approved 2023 rate increase that will raise rates over the next three years by 12% for residential electric customers and 20% for residential gas customers. In December of 2024, Con Edison’s own reports found that nearly half a million New York households were already behind on their utility bills. The members stressed the progress that House Democrats have made since 2020 to bring down utility costs for working New Yorkers. 

“These historic investments included increased utility accessibility, affordability, and grid resilience through investments in programs such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP), Home Electrification and Efficiency Rebates Programs, and the Department of Energy Grid Deployment Office, among others. These investments have in turn led to a decrease in inflation, interest rates, and energy costs. Hiking rates now is inconsistent with the recovery we have worked so hard to achieve,” the members continued. 

“We request that the current proposal to raise rates be rejected and that Con Edison return to the drawing board to identify a better proposal,” the members concluded. 

Read the letter here or below: 

Dear CEO Christian, 

We write to express our objection to Consolidated Edison’s (Con Edison’s) recent request to raise electric rates by 11.4% and natural gas rates by 13.3%.1 While Con Edison reported higher- than-expected profits in Q3 2024, working-class New Yorkers are already struggling with extraordinary burdens due to years of high prices.2 These rate hikes will only make it harder to make ends meet or, worse, lead to devastating shutoffs. 

In December 2024, Con Edison's own reports show that approximately 460,000 households were behind on their utility bills for a total of $948 million.3 In 2023, the New York Public Service Commission already approved a rate hike that will see the average bill rise about 12% over three years for residential electric customers across Con Edison’s service territory in New York City and Westchester county, and an estimated 20% over three years for residential gas customers in The Bronx, Manhattan and northern Queens. 

In response to inflationary pressures created by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine, which caused global energy prices to rise, we worked tirelessly over the past four years to pass the American Rescue Plan Act and Inflation Reduction Act. These historic investments included increased utility accessibility, affordability, and grid resilience through investments in programs such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP), Home Electrification and Efficiency Rebates Programs, and the Department of Energy Grid Deployment Office, among others. These investments have in turn led to a decrease in inflation, interest rates, and energy costs. Hiking rates now is inconsistent with the recovery we have worked so hard to achieve. 

We request that the current proposal to raise rates be rejected and that Con Edison return to the drawing board to identify a better proposal. 

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