Regulators Grant Con Edison a $523.4 Million Increase in Delivery Rates

NEW YORK — State regulators on Tuesday approved a $523.4 million one-year increase in Consolidated Edison’s rates for delivering electric service. Typical residential customers will see an increase in their monthly bill of about $6 in New York and about $8 in Westchester County.

Critics of the utility decried the decision, saying it would harm economically vulnerable customers as the region struggles through a recession. Con Edison said it was disappointed by the decision, saying there was not enough money for essential infrastructure maintenance.

The State Public Service Commission also authorized raising $198 million through a temporary surcharge on bills to pay for state-mandated assessments, for a total increase of $721.4 million. The overall increase on electricity bills will be 6.1 percent across the Con Edison system.

The $523.4 million increase was substantially less than the $819 million the utility requested in September, a figure that did not include the state-mandated assessments. It comes just over a year after Con Edison won a $425 million increase from the commission. That increase, last March, resulted in an extra $4.25 in the monthly bill for a typical residential customer in New York and $5.60 in Westchester.

“We are always concerned about the impacts on ratepayers of any rate increase, but today’s decision is particularly difficult,” said Garry A. Brown, the commission’s chairman. “In this economy, the idea of raising rates is very distasteful. Unemployment has risen and consumers are having difficulty paying their bills. Nevertheless, there are certain increases in Con Edison’s costs that have to be recognized.”

The commission also ordered Con Edison to take some cost-cutting measures, including the preparation of an “austerity budget.” The commission said it hoped that lower commodity prices would help offset the increase in delivery rates. Finally, the commission urged Con Edison to consider applying for multiyear rate increases, suggesting the one-year rate increases were insufficient to “address the many challenges” Con Edison faced on operations and costs.

Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, a Queens Democrat who has been a persistent critic of Con Edison, criticized the rate increase. “As long as the Public Service Commission aids and abets Con Edison’s game of perpetual rate hikes, the people of New York will continue to suffer from sky-high rates and substandard service,” he said.

For its part, Con Edison also expressed dissatisfaction.

“Since most of a customer’s bill is used to pay supply costs and government taxes, it is troubling that the only costs being slashed in today’s P.S.C. decision are the funds used to maintain the system and provide reliable service,” it said in a statement.