Electric Bills for Con Ed Customers Will Soar

From the New York Times City Room:

Consolidated Edison is expecting to bill its residential customers in New York City and Westchester County 22 percent more for electricity this summer than last because of rising fuel costs, officials at the utility said Friday. A customer who uses 350 kilowatt hours of power per month, a typical amount, would pay about $105, $19 more than a year ago and $8 more than an earlier estimate. Business customers will likely see their bills rise by 25 percent, to an average of $2,893.08 a month.

The expected increase for June through September, detailed in an internal monthly memo and reported in The Daily News on Friday, is nearly twice the 13 percent increase that Con Edison had forecast at the start of the summer.

“It’s all due to rising fuel costs,” said Chris Olert, a spokesman for Con Edison. “We make no money on power generation. If we pay X cents per kilowatt hour, our customers pay X cents per kilowatt hour as well.”>>>MORE