City, county and state lawmakers led coordinated press conferences outside of the Con Edison headquarters, in White Plains and in Albany Monday, announcing the delivery of a new letter signed by 112 elected officials representing 9 Million New Yorkers demanding that the Public Service Commission (PSC) reject Con Edison’s Joint Proposal (JP) to raise electricity and gas utility bills for New Yorkers. The PSC is set to have their next meeting on Thursday, January 22. The letter and coordinated events are amplifying concerns lawmakers have been expressing since the release of the JP in November, saying that the proposal does not go far enough in addressing affordability concerns.
State Senator Shelley Mayer and Assemblymembers Chris Burdick, Dana Levenberg, and MaryJane Shimsky led the press conference in Albany. (Click here for video and here for photos.) They were joined by 25 state lawmakers as well as advocates representing elderly residents on fixed incomes and environmental justice communities. Council Member Harvey Epstein hosted a rally in New York City, joined by a dozen lawmakers and environmental activists. In White Plains, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins and Chair of the County Board of Legislators Vedat Gashi were joined by several county legislators. (Click here for video.) The events amplified concerns expressed in a joint letter, signed by 11 New York State Senators, 60 New York State Assemblymembers, and 43 New York City Councilmembers and addressed to Rory Christian, Chair of the PSC. The letter asks the PSC to keep current electricity and gas delivery rates in place instead of approving the proposed rate hike. The increase is being sought in order to pay for, among other things, a needlessly high rate of return on equity for Con Edison’s shareholders, which lawmakers criticized as unnecessary and unfair in light of residents’ affordability concerns.
The JP would exacerbate the lack of affordability, imposing increases well above inflation with annual rate increases in the three-year proposal at +4.3%, +5.0%, and +3.3% for electricity delivery and -0.3%, +7.2% and +3.7% for gas delivery, for 2026, 2027 and 2028 respectively. According to the testimony submitted by the Customer Operations Panel of CECONY in January 2025, “As of December 2024, there were 564,520 customers with arrears more than 60 days old totaling $1.49 billion. These figures include 496,007 residential customers with arrears of $948 million and 68,513 non-residential customers with arrears of $539 million.” Those in arrears are expected to increase under the higher rates in the JP, forcing people further into debt.
The pending rate cases have seen an unprecedented level of involvement and scrutiny from elected officials. State Senator Robert Jackson and Assemblymembers Chris Burdick and Dana Levenberg participated directly as intervenors, alongside representatives from the office of Assemblymember MaryJane Shimsky and attorneys representing Westchester County and a consortium of Westchester municipalities. The intervention is credited for bringing the current proposed delivery rates down significantly from the original proposal, which asked for double-digit percentage increases in delivery rates for electric and gas. However, the currently proposed rates still represent an unsustainable level of increase for many households, particularly those on fixed incomes.
Senator Mayer and the state legislators went beyond the letter to highlight pending legislation, sponsored by Mayer and co-sponsored by many in the group, that could alter the course of future rate cases. These include S.1896, which would require utilities to adopt a common equity ratio and rate of return on equity established by the Public Service Commission, preventing utility companies from charging excessive rates simply to pad investors’ returns – directly addressing one of the concerns raised by the lawmakers in their letter. (Click here for a full list of related legislation by Senator Mayer.)
State Senator Mayer said, “I stand today, united with my colleagues in the State Senate, the Assembly, and the New York City Council, to urge the Public Service Commission to reject Con Edison’s inadequate joint proposal. After countless hours of testimony, written comments, emails, and calls from ratepayers across our communities, Con Edison’s joint proposal once again fails to protect ratepayers and instead continues to place an unjust burden on them. Con Edison’s joint proposal ignores the real, lived experiences of everyday families, seniors on fixed incomes, small business owners, and communities that have repeatedly raised their voices demanding fairness and accountability. We urge the PSC to take up this matter at its January 22 meeting and reject the proposal. New Yorkers deserve better.”
“This is a fight about affordability for our residents, as well as small businesses that are being crushed by utility bills.” Assemblymember Burdick said. “Many simply can’t afford to pay them, leading to ever-higher arrearages. According to Con Edison’s own numbers, as of November 2025, 416,598 residential customer accounts were behind on their bills by 60 days or more, totaling $889,413,409 owed by struggling customers. In November 2025, Con Ed terminated utility service to 12,642 customer accounts and issued 111,941 customer disconnection notices. The proposal going to the PSC will deepen this crisis. We urge the PSC to do the right thing, reject the proposal, and freeze rates.”
“My constituents’ incomes are not all going up by 5 or 7 percent every year,” said Assemblymember Levenberg. “The delivery rates in the JP are much lower than the original proposal, but the fact remains that Con Ed is trying to get blood from a stone. These increases are simply not supportable, and will just result in more Con Edison customers falling behind on their utility bills. The Public Service Commission must prioritize the needs of the public they are supposed to serve.”
“Soaring utility costs have brought Con Edison customers to the breaking point,” said Assemblymember Shimsky. “Despite this, the Public Service Commission is poised to approve another round of excessive rate hikes, while guaranteeing Con Ed a 9.4% ROE—a rate of return well beyond that of other utilities in the region. That is why we State, County, and City representatives have joined together to oppose the PSC’s joint proposal with Con Ed. This is simply unacceptable. The PSC must do better by New Yorkers, and bring an end to utility fee hikes that outpace inflation and exceed what our residents can reasonably afford.”
“Con Edison, and their blatant cash grab, is creating an affordability crisis, and families, seniors, and small businesses across Westchester County have reached their breaking point,” said Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins. “Utility bills have skyrocketed in recent years, sometimes doubling or even tripling, and people are being forced to make impossible choices between paying their rent, buying groceries, or keeping the lights on. The Joint Proposal before the Public Service Commission would only make this crisis worse, not better. We are standing shoulder to shoulder with leaders across New York State to call on the PSC to reject or significantly modify Con Ed’s proposal and ensure that ratepayers are not asked to pay unaffordable increases to guarantee outsized returns for shareholders. Affordability must come first.”
