New York, NY – Con Ed Customers Pay Highest Electricity Bill

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    con-ed-billNew York, NY – Con Ed again charged the highest residential rates of any major utility in the 48 contiguous states in 2008, federal numbers released yesterday show. Only folks in Alaska, Hawaii, Fishers Island, NY, Block Island, RI, and some tiny islands off Maine paid more.

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    At an average 24.18 cents per kilowatt hour, Con Ed’s 2.3 million residential customers saw their electric bills jump by 12 percent over 2007. The sky-high rates meant a Con Ed customer who used 300 kilowatt hours of electricity per month in 2008 had an average monthly bill of $72.50.

    People in Monroe City, Mo., or Yadkin, NC — paying the average US residential price of 11.26 cents per kilowatt hour — shelled out $33.78 for the same amount of power.

    “Many costs are higher in New York than in other parts of the country,” Con Ed said in a statement.

    The utility said blame for the high bills extends far beyond the company. High state and local taxes are a big culprit, amounting to about 26.5 percent of a typical residential customer’s bill, Con Ed says.

    Another cause may be management of the state’s electric grid.

    Right under grid bosses’ noses, energy traders took state electric rate payers for between $240 million and $415 million in early 2008 — a big hunk of which came from Con Ed customers’ pockets.

    And critics of grid bosses say the auction system under which wholesale electricity is sold is set up to skew prices higher.

    The state Public Service Commission promised lower rates when it deregulated electricity a decade ago. Instead, Con Ed’s prices have increased compared to the national average. In 1999, Con Ed’s residential prices were 94.5 percent higher than the national average. In no year since 2000 have Con Ed customers paid less than double the US average residential price, the government numbers show.


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    9 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Is there anything we can use instead. i think not, they have the monopoly here

    Columbus
    Columbus
    14 years ago

    Con Ed use the money for lobbying. The rates New Yorkers pay Con Ed are approved by the NY State legislature.
    This same legislature approved MTA fare increase without requiring that the MTA open its books.
    something stinks up on Albany!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    While Con Ed certainly shares the blame, let’s not forget the added costs that the politicians keep adding. Whenever they raise the utility property taxes, or stick more hands into Con Ed’s pockets, that gets passed on as well.
    Oh, and per the NY Post:
    In a stealth move that got little notice, the Bloomberg administration also
    tacked the 4.5 sales tax onto gas and electric bills — that’s expected to
    enrich city coffers by $74 million. The new tax will cost a household an
    extra $28.50 this month alone, based on a typical Con Ed January bill —
    $51.28 for gas plus $80.97 for electricity, a spokeswoman said. [a]

    Read more:
    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/latest_tax_hike_wallop_to_your_wallet_aKr
    NHt3Cckr1RjOymo2YcO#ixzz0csTXODJt
    [a] dunno how the NY Post got that figure for “this month alone”.
    Their numbers don’t add up..

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    This has to do with no one else but Bloomberg. Every single NYC fee, tax or utility price was raised in the last 8 years. Yes he can balim it on this board that board and health, but the bottom line he has his hand all over. At the same time city agencies give you the worst service almost like a third world country.

    I wonder whose bright idea it was to support him?

    judy
    judy
    14 years ago

    (Reply to # 1)
    Yes there is a solution. If people would read their bills with all it’s details they would see it all for themselves.
    Let this this be very clear; Con Ed does not have their own energy they get it from a plant that many others get the supply from. If you look on the back of the monthly bill Con Ed writes that people can finda differnt ESCO (energy saving co.) When a person chooses an ESCO everything still stayes the way it was and the consmer gets only one bill every month from Co Ed. They will still be reading the meters & maintain it all but the supply which is half of the bill (when you still pay tax on it) is much cheaper.
    I have found this ESCO to be the one to go with “AMBIT ENERGY”. You may go on the website and learn all about it http://www.energyrelief.goambit.com
    If anyone wants to sign up and save $$ you may do so on the website or email us   judys9335 yahoo.com