We decided to talk to Con Ed and get some answers as to why some people were seeing heating bills up to $1000 a month, in some cases, when some say they were actually using less energy.
According to Con Ed Spokesman Philip O’Brien, the best way to understand your bill is to note that it is divided into three sections:
Supply: The rate for your gas or electricity supply is based on the price of the commodity in the market. “We buy it, and by law have to charge customers the same amount we pay for it, not a penny more”, says O’Brien.
Delivery: The delivery charges pay for maintenance of the grid, such as wages, and overhead. These fees are regulated by the Public Service Commission. If usage goes up, delivery fees go up. You can choose your Energy Service Provider (ESCO) in an effort to save money, but “ESCOs have to increase their own supply charges when costs go up because they are using the Con Ed infrastructure,” O’Brien said. That’s why some people lock in a long-term rate with an ESCO.
Taxes: “This is something we have no control over,” says Con Ed Spokesman O’Brien. 29%, (yes 29%!) of the bill is taxes. “We become the collection agency for the government.”
On top of this, there was a Con Ed rate increase between December, 2018 and January, 2019. It was the third leg of a three year increase.
On Friday, we will tell you why supplies of Natural Gas are dwindling, how the State is dealing with this and what some customers are doing about it.
from nextdoor:
Evil Empire Alert
Has anyone noticed a huge uptick in their Con Ed bill over the last month (or since the installation of their “Smart Meters”) ?
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It’s because their price went up to 79c per therm. Compared to under 50c last year or even a few month ago. Check your bills.
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There’s a long thread on this from about a month ago. But yes, our villa have been steadily increasing. Last months Con Ed bill was $995.00.
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Hello Nanci Funny you mentioned Con Ed bill My bill has more than doubled and I spent over an hour with a manager at Con Ed to explain to me the reason for this big jump which he could not understand and now he is checking to send an auditor from his office to see the problem. Now I am curious to see who else had the same problem which will bring a huge issue for them. Thank you Nanci for starting to stear this big problem which could end up being the new installation of the meter they intalled for us.
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Yet, it’s pretty obvious when you look at your bills and compare the price per therm, Albert. ConEd itself answered that it’s inflation hence the price rise. This is the link to the discussion I started earlier this year: https://nextdoor.com/post/101335586?init_source=copy_link_share I have since switched to a different provider and can’t wait for my next bill!
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What provider will you be using? I get various offers but wasn’t sure who was most reliable or honest? Thanks.
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Morn.I noticed my bill was like 73 dollars more.Something isn’t right.I work all day and come home at nite and cant understand my bill being extremely high. Con Ed will be called today
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Linda, there is a link in the thread to my post listing all current offers from NYS licensed providers. It changes daily. You need to understand the terms regarding cancellation fees if any, and opt between fixed or variable rate. ConEd will still be charging you for delivery charges, what you can choose is the supplier.
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Natural Gas is plentiful which makes it cheap. However the governor has placed roadblocks towards fracking in NY state. Con Ed is having a moratorium on gas lines as they are wanting clearance and cost adjustments to increase gas mains. We already pay the highest rates in the Nation. Consumers are being taken for a ride as it has driven up the cost of Gas falsely. I am not being Political but you can’t expect cost stay low when your State Government is driving an agenda “Green” without thinking of the ramifications. Think about this. Natural Clean Burning Gas is being driven up by Government desire to force us away from fossil fuels towards sustainable energy. Gas is clean, plentiful and getting a bad reputation for the sake of an agenda. If you like the Agenda you can have your agenda just don’t complain too hard about your Bill. There is progress and then there is Government eroding choice. Erode choice you get higher costs due to them trying to force progress without thinking about the consumer.
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Yes! I was confused by it… any more info??
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Im on level billing so my bills are $262.00 every month. Believe it or not but I am not a big fan of A/C Id rather have the windows up and a few fans blowing so I save money during the summer months which they have given me credits for and knocked it off a few bills which was a big help. I had to replace my furnace a few weeks ago and with the installation it almost doubled my bill this month, so going forward my bills are going to be $282.00 a month now, I haven’t had my smart meter installed yet I made an appointment for the end of april.
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I’m on hold with them now – our bill has been crazy the past two months
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yes mine as well!!!!! huge increase! any feedback from them???
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Glad to read this. I live in a coop. My schedule has changed and I am not home much during the day hours – but my bill has not lowered ???
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It’s time to start thinking solar! Con Ed spends years convincing people to change from oil to gas, now they cant keep up with the demand. Now they are raising the rates of electricity through the roof!
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Argh, I’m doing a gas conversion as we speak and I think it was a big mistake. I wanted to go geothermal… with refunds and incentives it would have been less than $20K plus $7K to retrofit our old house; because we also need a new AC unit (and geothermal both heats and cools) after 5 years we would have broken even, but my husband was uneasy about it… https://sustainablewestchester.org/initiatives-toolkits/heatsmart/
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I was quite interested to read about this new scheme from ConEd that they sent a flyer around about the other day: making the electricity cheaper if you use it outside peak hours (noon to 8 p.m.) and cheaper still if you stagger the use of large appliances. I guess it could lead to some reductions in bills, but I wonder how much…
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Yes. Extreme spike
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Mine has gone up too
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I also have been in contact with ConEd about my bills, which all of a sudden were shockingly high, and after much discussion in which they insisted there was no error, they now admit they believe there is an error (at least with my gas bills since the installation of the smart meter). So it can’t hurt to call and press them on the issue. However, I was told this could take months to fix as they are extremely backlogged.
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We had opted in to the Sustainable Westchester/Westchester Power Consortium ESCO and discovered that we are being charged a higher rate than the Village of Mamaroneck negotiated. Their computer put us in Dobbs Ferry which has a higher rate. It will take 4 months for it to be straightened out and receive a refund.
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I’m kind of happy now. Im not the only one who has seen the changes on the bill, it’s now almost double. It’s being about 4 months since I started seeing the changes. I hope we can get an explanation but, more than that to go back to the prices from last year will be more helpful ?
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My bill went from $96 to an “estimated” $475. I called coned they took responsibility for this erroneous leap in price and blamed it on the newly installed smart meter and on another call said no one was able to read the meter so they gave me an estimate. Said they were opening an investigation and someone would reach out to me from a special dept. next week. I will be following up.
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Have lived in my home for many years and never seen such a huge increase. There is something very wrong with the new meters they insisted we have installed or else they would tack on an extra fee. Extortion plain and simple. They are overcharging no matter which way the coin is tossed.
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Dear Lucy Thank you for reaching out to everyone I gather that most of us are on auto payment as our life is very hectic. If some of us complaint for their huge increase they will make an adjustment but look at those who do not complaint? Con Ed will benefit and will pay for the cost of the new meters Our congressman should be contacted with this scam or better Channel 12 can start an investigation. Isn’t it odd that our bill is hugely increased at a time of a new piece of equipment ?? I will be writing to George Latimer and see if more of us can call channel 12 IF YOU SEE SOMETHING DO SOMETHING
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Person to contact is your Local NY State Assembly Person. In my case is Amy Paulin. They have jurisdiction as Con Edison is licensed by NYS.
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It seems to me that Con Ed new meters are sending the wrong information for the utility consumption of residents that’s why more of us should do what I did to have an auditor of Con Ed come and see what is happening with the new meter
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Apparently they put in a new meter for the electric part without me knowing, but the gas mater is scheduled to be installed, for which I must be present.. This sounds like its going to be a mess so if I will be on board if anyone is arranging a meeting or the like.
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Just so everyone is aware , I have contacted The Department of Public Service of NY at 800 342 3377 to lodge a complaint with them for the unreasonable charges. Do what you believe is best for you but the more complaints they get the better off we will all be in the long run!!! There is a say in French « L’union fait la force »
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There’s been so much discussion of this on some of the mom groups i am in on facebook that I actually suggested getting politicians involved. There are families who are living paycheck to paycheck or on very tight budgets and are now getting bills that are double and triple what they were before. It is not feasible for them. I recently moved so I can’t personally attest to an increase but I’ve literally heard hundreds of families expressing concern over this and most have been after the installation of the smart meter.
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I don’t have the smart meter on my gas line yet & my bills have been out of site for the last 2 months
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Dear Katrina Have your mom get on next door in westchester and see what is happening on this disastrous situation with Con Ed Let her call Assembly women Amy Paulin if she lives in New Rochelle Or Assembly Man Steve Otis if she lives in Larchmont/Mamaroneck I also reached out to the Public Service Commission to explain my issue , They assigned me a case number and Con Ed has called me twice as the PSC is investigating this erroneous problem All the tel numbers are listed on Google
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The best means of comparison is Therms. Last year same month compared to this year. My recent bill although more money was less therms than last year. If the Therms are close the meter is not defective just the price per therm. We all want our bills lower. Therm use is key price per Therm is your answer. If the therms are way high then the new meters could be an issue!
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And you thought your bills were high? How about getting a $37 million bill for a 600 sq ft apartment? https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-queens-man-37-million-con-ed-electric-bill-20190311-story.html
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I spent 57 minutes on the phone with Con Ed rep, he told me they installed smart meters so they could read “accurately” the meters from their station. No one needs to go around by foot to read meters anymore. If you want your old meter back they will charge you a $9.07 monthly fee.
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Evelyn you are correct, but many have the gas meters inside the home… Its best to delay entry inside the home if possible until all this gets cleared up somehow. They changed my electric meter that was outside but they havent had any access to the gas meter which is inside. Im stalling, and if they charge me 9 bucks more a month I will pay that as opposed to the alternative of sky high bills some of us are experiencing. Also, you can choose your own supplier of both electric and gas, and not just accept Con Edison for that. If you do, choose a fixed plan, with no early termination penalty. Hope this helps.
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Lucy, start with looking at your bill and seeing if you are part of the village program with Constellations for your electric supply. Most of us were automatically enrolled in January after being in the program for 2 years.
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Hello Nancy Just for your information Amy Paulin covers New Rochelle but since you live in Larchmont you can call Steven Otis who is our Assemblyman Also don’t forget to reach out to the Public Service Commission they will give you a case number and you can use it for any correspondence with Con Ed which will have more weight
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There are no gas ESCO’s available, only electric, which I have enrolled in and using all LED’S helps tremendously. HOLD OUT ON INSTALLING SMART GAS METERS AS LONG AS YOU CAN. I wish I did the same.
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Thank you Evelyn for your info
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Evelyn There are gas suppliers other than Con Ed. I signed up for it at 51 therms for a fixed 2 year term. No penalty if I decide to cancel.
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Just switched to Constellation. 52.9 per therm and 6.9 per kWh. Not the solution but a slight help. Rates guaranteed for three years.
YES I plan on calling them to find out what’s going on
Help! The ConEd bill we just received is more than triple what we’ve been paying. Looks as if we were moved to Constellation, although account number has not changed. The charges suddenly are extremely high – and no one was home part of July. Anyone have a number to call?
Thank you.
Marnie
I’m on a level payment. It was $117 per month and was $175 last month. It will be $108 thereafter.
The explanation was that it was the end of the yearly billing cycle and the final bill was adjusted for actual usage.
I’m now retired, so I spend much more time in my one-bedroom apartment. I use the gas range more, so my monthly therms have gone from 3 to 4 therms per month, but my electricity has gone down a little due to replacing light bulbs with lower wattage LED ones. Other than that, my TV and computer are on all the time as are my lights. No a/c use in the winter, but in the summer it’s on all the time and my electric bill would be about $250 or more for actual use, but my bill was $117 for the level plan. I wanted to change it and just pay as I go since my winter bills would be under $100 per month, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, so I just leave it as it is.
Here in Yonkers too!!!