NYSPSC Approves New O&R Electric, Gas Delivery Rates
The New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPSC) today voted to approve a joint proposal by Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), the New York State Department of Public Service (NYSDPS) staff and several other interested parties that provides new three-year delivery rates for both O&R’s electric and natural gas services.
Today’s decision establishes a three-year rate plan for electric and gas service provided by Orange & Rockland for the period January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2024, that allows revenues to increase by 2 percent for electric and 1.92 percent for gas in the first year, and by less than 2 percent for electric and gas in the second and third year, providing an immediate benefit to ratepayers who would otherwise experience higher rates at a time when the economy is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
O&R filed electric and natural gas rate review requests with the NYSPSC on January 29, 2021. That began an intensive public review process with the NYSDPS and several interested parties, including energy industry representatives, consumer advocacy groups, environmental advocacy groups and local governments.
The new rate plans focus particular attention on the future development of clean energy projects, additional storm hardening programs --- including strategic undergrounding of overhead power lines --- and assistance to low-income customers.
The new plans provide for substantial investment in the communities O&R serves in Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties for energy efficiency, carbon emissions reduction and the development of environmentally beneficial electrical technologies such as electric vehicles and ground-sourced heat pumps.
Further, the plans include initiatives for building new electric substations and upgrading infrastructure, including transmission and distribution lines and facilities, to provide reliable service.
The new plans contain capital and operations and maintenance spending to replace leak prone gas pipe. In addition, the company will deploy state-of-the-art remote methane leak detection technology.
Total electric bills for a residential customer using 600 kilowatt hours per month would increase by 1.4 percent in the first year, 2.7 percent in the second year, and 3.1 percent in the third year. Total gas bills for a residential heating customer using 110 hundred cubic feet per month or 110 ccf per month would increase by 3.2 percent in the first year, 1.8 percent in the second year, and 2.3 percent in the third year.
These new rate plans are specific to covering the cost of delivering electricity and natural gas to O&R’s customers. The other components that affect the monthly electric and natural gas bills are the costs of the electricity and natural gas commodities themselves which are set by largely unregulated market activity, and taxes and fees.
Orange and Rockland Utilities (O&R) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (Con Edison) (NYSE: ED), one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. O&R is a regulated electric and gas utility that serves approximately 244,000 electric customers and 131,460 natural gas customers in New York.
For additional information about O&R, please visit O&R’s Web site at www.oru.com.