New York, NY – You’d need a dog sled or a boat to find Americans who pay more for electricity than Con Ed customers do.
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In 2009, Con Ed again charged New Yorkers the highest residential rates of any major utility in the 48 contiguous states.
Only folks in Alaska, Hawaii, Fishers Island, NY, Block Island, RI, and some tiny islands off Maine paid more.
But while New Yorkers’ electric rates are more than double the national average, Con Ed’s prices actually dropped in 2009, while the national average increased.
At an average 23.58 cents per kilowatt hour, Con Ed customers who used 300 kilowatt hours of electricity each month — enough for a 750-square-foot apartment — paid $70.74.
That was down from the $72.54 they paid in 2008, a drop of about 2.5 percent.
Con Ed says it’s not to blame for high prices.
The company buys nearly all its electricity wholesale, and passes the cost to customers without markup.
State and local taxes buried in electric bills — where elected officials expect voters won’t see them — are also a factor.
“New York’s taxes, fees and downstate power-generation charges — all not in Con Edison’s control — drive about 75 percent of the monthly bill,” the company said in a statement.
They are correct. They are the middleman and simply flow through the wholesale cost of power which is determined by the NYISO market on a real time basis and through periodic auctions. They also have a major investment to be made in upgrading the city’s antiquated distribution system and that cost has to be recovered from ratepayers. Overall, they are an excellent utility and these costs are a small price we pay for the excellent service they provide.
If they only pass to us the prices they pay for, how come most companies in the US find cheaper wholesalers and pass over cheaper prices?!
For a company that just passes on it’s cost, they made a really huge profit. Just check their financials.
yeah, sure, go blame your greed on albany
Wow I did not realize how much new yorkers paid. here in lakewood, the JCP&l charges about 12.5 c kw, plus 5 cents for delivery, or around 18 cents total. We can also choose our supplier, so i was able to select an energy company that charges 10.5 c kw, plus the JPCL supply charge of 5 cents.I cannot stress how important it is to conserve energy whenever you can. Through various measures, i have reduced my avg monthly electric bill from $180, to around $75 by doing the following
1. replacing every light bulb with compact florescent. They are as cheap as 92 cents at wal mart these days.
2. Wrapping an insulation blanket around my water heater.
3. turning the heat of at night and using heavy warm blankets. Then, setting the thermo stat to go on a half hour before wakeup time. It makes no sense to have a heater running all night heating an entire room when you are under a warm blanket anyway. (just be sure to set it to go on at around 45 so the pipes do not freeze)
4. find out if you get lower rates for after hours use, and do your laundry during that time if possible
5. Use ceiling fans and floor fans in the summer when at all possible.
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6, Do you usually turn the cold water on because the hot water is just too scolding hot? if so you are wasting energy heating the water to a temp that you wont use. lower the thermostat on your water heater to around 120, and you will save tons, not to mention avoid accidental burns (mine was set to nearly 150 for 4 months before i did this trick)
Does 23.58 cents per kilowatt hour include both supply & delivery costs? If it does, customers should switch their supplier from Con Ed to an independent Energy Services company (ESCO). One ESCO recently advertised Electric for 10.8 cents/kwh for 12 months & gas for $.71 per therm for 12 months.
Baltokayer – Yes, 23.58 Cents is the combined charge.
Have you actually tried an ESCO? They all promise you the sun and the moon, but wind up costing you more. Their supply charges are higher, and ConEd will charge you more for delivery. I personally compared 2 bills, both charged at the H1 – Residential/Religious rate. One was with ConEd, and the other with an ESCO that promised at least %5 lower prices. The ConEd bill was about 22 Cents combined, and the ESCO bill was almost 45 Cents!
ConEd points you to the ESCOs because they’re forced to do that by regulations, but I’ve yet to see an ESCO that made it worthwhile.
What’s in a name? Being Conned is what it is.