Con Edison Chairman and CEO Tim Cawley spoke optimistically about the company's future as a leader of the region's transition to clean energy.
The company continues to deliver industry-leading service reliability to its customers and strong, stable returns for shareholders while building a grid to provide 100 percent clean energy by 2040, Cawley told shareholders today (May 15) at the company's virtual annual meeting.
Con Edison, which celebrated its bicentennial in March, also has a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the region's vibrancy, Cawley said.
"Together, these efforts keep our company strong and sustainable, while strengthening the communities we serve," Cawley said. "This work builds on our foundation of safety, operational excellence, and providing the best customer experience.
"Con Edison's history proves our company excels at major transformation," Cawley said. "I am confident this next chapter will be our most important and most rewarding yet."
The company is investing nearly $15 billion dollars the next three years to fortify its energy systems, making them more resilient and able to accommodate additional electric demand, Cawley said.
He thanked the company's 14,000 employees and the union leadership at Local 1-2, Local 3, and Local 503 for being "exceptional and valued partners."
Cawley pointed to Con Edison's Clean Energy Commitment, which is the company's roadmap to an energy supply with increasing amounts of renewables in support of the ambitious environmental goals New York State and City have set.
Con Edison is investing in transmission lines to carry the renewable energy the state is adding to its portfolio. The company recently announced the completion of a $275 million underground line that runs between two substations in Queens.
In addition to the Queens transmission line, the company is building two more, one in Brooklyn and another in Staten Island, to carry clean energy. The three Reliable Clean City projects will enable the closure of inefficient, polluting "peaker" plants that run on fossil fuels.
A peaker plant in Astoria, Queens closed in the same week that Con Edison announced the completion of its new transmission line in Queens.
Con Edison's utilities, Con Edison Company of New York and Orange and Rockland Utilities, offer energy efficiency programs that pay residential, business and nonprofit customers incentives to make upgrades that help them lower their usage.
The utilities also offer incentives for the installation of electric vehicle chargers, help customers connect rooftop solar projects and invest in battery storage, which pairs well with renewable energy.
Customers have completed 60,000 solar projects. Those installations have the capacity to produce 700 megawatts - or 700 million watts - of clean power.
Cawley noted that Con Edison sold its Clean Energy Businesses in March, allowing it to sharpen its focus on the New York City region. The deal with German energy company RWE was valued at $6.8 billion.
The company wants to build on its success and its contribution to the clean energy transition by owning large-scale solar and wind farms in New York State. Con Edison is seeking the state's permission to own these resources, which it believes it can operate more efficiently than private developers, meaning customers would save money.
Con Edison is the longest continuously listed company on the New York Stock Exchange. Its annual dividend has grown for 49 straight years and is now $3.24 per share.
Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy-delivery companies, with approximately $16 billion in annual revenues and $63 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through the following subsidiaries: Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (CECONY), a regulated utility providing electric service in New York City and New York's Westchester County, gas service in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens and parts of Westchester, and steam service in Manhattan; Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a regulated utility serving customers in a 1,300-square-mile area in southeastern New York State and northern New Jersey; and Con Edison Transmission, Inc., which falls primarily under the oversight of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and manages, through joint ventures, both electric and gas assets while seeking to develop electric transmission projects that will bring clean, renewable electricity to customers, focusing on New York, New England, the Mid-Atlantic states and the Midwest.
