News
For Immediate Release: April 15, 1998
CON EDISON PROPOSES LONG-RANGE PLAN
FOR ITS STEAM SYSTEM
Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con
Edison) today proposed a long-range plan for the company's
steam system that addresses the resources, costs and
economic viability of the system, as well as the potential
for competition.
Under the plan, Con Edison proposes to sell at auction
its Waterside and East River steam-electric generating
plants. The plan anticipates that the sale of these
properties will encourage the plants' new owners to develop
new, modern steam-producing plants that will serve as a
major source of the area's steam supply in future years.
The plan also seeks to moderate steam price increases for
customers.
"We worked closely with our customers in developing
this plan," said William Harkins, Con Edison's vice
president of Energy Management. "Our plan will help ensure
a continued, reliable supply of steam, promote rate
stability that will help our customers control their energy
costs, and provide a fair return to the company's
investors," Harkins added.
The plan also recognizes the changes that are occurring
as Con Edison's electric business is being restructured and
recommends that the steam business be examined in the same
fashion.
"We're very pleased with Con Edison's proposal," said
Peter L. DiCapua, president of the Owners Committee on
Electric Rates, an organization of real estate owners and
operators that includes New York's major steam users. "Con
Edison met with us and gave us the opportunity to work on
developing this plan. We expressed our concerns about the
assurance of a continued, reliable supply of steam at
reasonable and controllable rates in the future. They took
our concerns seriously and satisfactorily addressed those
issues in their plan," added DiCapua.
Con Edison's long-range plan for the future of its
steam system is subject to review by the New York State
Public Service Commission (PSC), as is the plan for the
auction of the two steam-electric generating facilities. As
part of the process of developing the plan, the company
received input from the PSC staff as well as from consumer
groups.
In a steam-electric generating plant, steam is produced
along with electricity as a by-product of the electric
generation process, which is more efficient than producing
electricity and steam at separate facilities. Con Edison's
plan recognizes the potential for
re-powering the steam-electric plants with more-modern
cogeneration technology that will help reduce costs.
Under a settlement agreement reached with the PSC last
September, Con Edison agreed to maintain current steam rate
levels through September 2000. New York has the lowest
rates of any steam system in the Northeast and, after taking
experienced inflation into account, the real price of the
steam purchased by Con Edison's customers has declined by 40
percent since 1981.
Con Edison's steam system is one of the largest in the
United States, with more than 100 miles of mains and service
pipes serving more than 1,900 customers south of 96th Street
in Manhattan. Steam provides heat and hot water, and also
the energy to run steam-powered air conditioning equipment
for many of Manhattan's largest buildings, hospitals and
other facilities.
Con Edison is one of the nation's largest utility
companies, with more than $7 billion in annual revenues and
approximately $15 billion in assets. The company, a
subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., provides electric,
gas and steam service to more than three million customers
in New York City and Westchester County, New York.
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