Gas and Electric Rate Hikes Expected in 2013

NY Post

Electricity and natural-gas prices in New York City and Westchester will jump in October 2013 if Con Ed gets its way, the company’s top finance officer said yesterday.

The company will seek the increases from the state Public Service Commission in November, said Con Ed CFO Robert Hoglund. The state’s decision will take 11 months.

It’s unusual for Con Ed gas and electric rates to jump at the same time.

The simultaneous price hike is looming because Con Ed put off plans to file for an electric-rate increase in May. Had it done so, electric rates would likely have risen six months earlier, in April 2013.

Con Ed wouldn’t disclose how much more money it wants from customers next year, whether it will seek single-year or multi-year hikes, or any other details of its plans.

But expect a nasty jolt from the electric- rate hike.

Con Ed’s electricity prices have long been among the country’s highest. Its charges jumped 10 percent in 2010, even as the national average price hardly budged, the latest federal data show. Bills jumped another 2.5 percent in April.

But New Yorkers use less electricity than other Americans — so Con Ed electric bills remain typical, Hoglund said at a Barclays investor conference.

“[Con Ed customers] live in small places. They don’t use energy commodities in the way people with larger houses do,” he said. “Our average electric bills run $85 to $100 per month, which is about average for the United States.”

An October 2013 gas-price boost would be no surprise — Con Ed gas-price hikes usually come in October.

Next month, Con Ed customers with gas heat will see their bills jump about 3 percent, or $8. Those only using gas to cook won’t be hit as hard, the company said.

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