Con Edison Invests $3.9 Billion in System Upgrades for Summer 2026

Con Edison is investing a record $3.9 billion in its electric delivery system across New York City and Westchester County to keep service reliable for customers this summer, as extreme heat becomes more frequent and severe.

The company made targeted investments to prepare for rising summer demand. Con Edison forecasts peak demand could exceed 2025 levels, driven by intense heat and humidity that increases air-conditioning use in homes and businesses.

These investments are designed to meet future weather conditions and deliver value to customers for decades. Research from Con Edison and Columbia University shows New York could see 17 days a year above 95 degrees by 2030 and 27 such days by 2040, compared with just four historically.

“Our ongoing investments help deliver safe, reliable service, even as summers grow hotter and the demand for power increases,” said Matthew Ketschke, the president of Con Edison. “We build advanced technology into our grid to increase efficiency and capacity. We use data to identify the upgrades that will have the greatest benefit for our customers.”

The company’s investments include 88 new underground transformers; 142 new overhead transformers; 123 spans of underground and aerial cable; and 381 spans of open cable. Con Edison crews have also installed 180 new poles.

The company selects its investments based on the age, performance history, and the demand placed on each piece of equipment in the system. Along with preparing for heat, the company invests in fortifying its energy systems against rain and windstorms, snowstorms, flooding and other hazardous weather. The upgrades reach all parts of the company’s 604-square-mile service region. Here are some of the investments:

• Manhattan: Upgrading cables, installing technology that allows faster restoration of outages, and shifting electrical loads to improve reliability and support growth in Harlem, Roosevelt Island, the East Village and Kips Bay.
• Brooklyn: The addition of four new cables that will provide power to Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Bedford-Stuyvesant to enhance reliability. Additionally, the company installed a transmission cable between the Greenwood and Gowanus substations.
• Queens: Energizing a new transmission line connecting the Vernon and Newtown substations in Long Island City with the capacity to carry 200 megawatts to the rapidly growing area.
• The Bronx: The addition of more than 100 sections of primary cable, 95 spans of open wire and switching technology that will improve capacity and reliability.
• Westchester: Upgrades to the county’s overhead delivery system will limit outages, as will the installation of additional switching and isolation equipment.
• Staten Island: Con Edison has upgraded poles, wiring, and transformers in New Brighton, Stapleton, Dongan Hills, Park Hill, and Richmond Town. The improvements include burying a mile of overhead cable to protect it from storms.

Save Energy and Money
As temperatures rise, customers use more air conditioning to stay comfortable, especially as extreme heat and humidity become more common. Higher usage during hot weather leads to higher monthly bills.

Conserving energy during heat waves - even with small actions - can help reduce usage when costs are highest. Conservation also helps Con Edison keep service reliable for customers.

• Keep shades, blinds and curtains closed. Heat from windows can represent up to 40 percent of the energy used for cooling.
• Set your thermostat at the highest comfortable temperature.
• Clean or replace AC air filters regularly.
• Use ceiling fans to circulate cool air.
• Shift major appliance use such as dishwashers, washing machines and charging EVs to off-peak hours to conserve energy and money.
• Seal air leaks to keep cool air in, and warm air out.

• Con Edison’s energy efficiency programs provide incentives for upgrades like new HVAC systems, smart thermostats and weatherization to help save on bills.
• The company offers programs for every type of customer – residential, owners of multi-family properties, small business, large commercial and income-eligible.

Protecting Vulnerable Customers
Con Edison is acutely aware of the affordability issue and offers programs to help customers in need.

• Customers who receive benefits from certain government programs may be eligible for bill discounts through the Energy Affordability Program.
• The company’s new Enhanced Energy Assistance Program provides support to eligible customers who may not qualify for government assistance programs.
• Con Edison offers payment plans for customers who fall behind on their bills. Customers should reach out to Con Edison about a payment plan when they first fall behind, rather than letting overdue balances grow.
• Customers can get payment extensions of up to 10 days.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Cooling Assistance program covers the cost of an air conditioner and installation for eligible customers whose households include at least one person susceptible to extreme heat and humidity.

In addition, the company offers a Budget Billing program that allows customers, regardless of income level, to spread payments out across the year, helping to limit seasonal spikes. This is especially helpful during months when customers use more energy for heating and cooling.

Con Edison urges customers to enroll in the Life-Support Equipment (LSE) program through My Account by submitting the form, or by calling 1-877-582-6633.

Con Edison offers special customer protections during hot weather periods.

Summer Bill Forecast
Customers may see higher summer bills this year, reflecting both increased energy use across the region and less available generation. When individual customers use more energy, their bills rise accordingly.

The underlying cost of power can be affected by numerous factors, such as the economy, weather and geopolitical events. Because Con Edison purchases energy on the wholesale market and passes those costs directly to customers without any profit, these increases flow through to the supply portion of the bill.

• A typical New York City residential customer using 350 kilowatt hours a month will pay an average bill of 5.7 percent more than last summer.
• A typical Westchester County customer using 500 kilowatt hours a month will see a decrease of 2.8 percent, mainly due to lower supply costs.
• A New York City commercial customer using 10,800 kilowatt hours with peak usage of 30 kilowatts will see an increase of less than 1 percent.

An increase in delivery rates approved by the New York State Public Service Commission is also a factor.

System Demand and Reliability
The company forecasts that the demand for power will reach 12,690 megawatts at design conditions. Last summer’s peak of 12,530 megawatts occurred on June 25. The record is 13,322 megawatts set on July 19, 2013. (One megawatt is 1 million watts.)

Heavy demand for power places stress on electric delivery equipment. But despite rising demand, Con Edison customers continue to receive remarkably reliable service. The typical customer would experience an outage every nine years, excluding outages caused by extreme weather, based on 2024 data.

Technology Leader
Con Edison applies modern technologies to serve more customers, help them use energy more efficiently, and keep service safe and reliable.

The company’s 3.7 million customers in New York City and Westchester County will benefit this summer and for years to come from technologies the company has adopted and refined in recent years. They include:

• State-of-the-art switches to limit outages due to a short circuit.
• A smart meter system that lets the company’s operators conduct emergency shutoffs to take stress off equipment with the ability to avoid shutting off critical customers, such as hospitals, fire and police stations, and those on life-support equipment.
• Infrared photos the company takes inside manholes to detect “hot spots” on cable. The company can send a crew to make repairs before the cable fails, possibly affecting service.
• The company can reduce voltage in areas where the demand for power is high to help keep the power flowing.

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. [NYSE: ED], one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. The utility delivers electricity, natural gas and steam, and serves 3.7 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, NY. For financial, operations and customer service information, visit conEd.com.