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Con Edison will tell its customers a main reason why its electric bills are so high — they’re forced to offset the company’s own hefty “regressive” property tax burden charged by the New York City government.
The utility giant said property taxes account for a significant 21% share of the total monthly bill customers pay as Con Edison’s $2.6 billion in property taxes last year made it the largest taxpayer in the city.
The customer’s total bill share jumps to about 30% when other state taxes and fees are included, officials said.
Con Ed’s property taxes have skyrocketed by 45% from 2019 to 2024.
A former state utility regulator said the property taxes imposed on Big Apple residents are obscene.
“The taxes paid by Con Ed customers are simply usury. It discriminates against lower income and small business customers,” said John Howard, a former chairman of the Public Service Commission.
“No other municipality in New York State pays such outrageous utility taxes. And the worst part it’s hidden in the bill,” he said.
Con Ed said its customers need to know the truth about the rising property taxes’ impact on their utility bill.
“Our goal is to help customers understand how much of their bill is going to support other things — schools, police, fire, all the things that municipalities use their tax revenue for — and to really open a conversation about whether the utility bill is the right place to be raising those funds,” said Con Ed Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Jen Hensley.
“Con Edison’s payment for New York City property taxes have increased 45% over the last five years,” she said. “That’s vastly outpacing the rate of inflation. It’s outpacing other parts of our bill.”
The state PSC in January authorized Con Ed to hike electric bills by 10.4% and inflate gas bill 15.8% over three years – costing the average Big Apple resident an eye-watering $600 more per year by 2028.
As part of the settlement with the parties in the rate-setting case including New York City, Con Edison was given the green light to spell out the impact property taxes has on customer bills.
Former Mayor Eric Adams did not object and neither did Mayor Zohran Mamdani, but Mamdani is now pushing against the new disclosure.
“If Con Edison wants to include the costs of city property taxes in bills, which all private properties pay to fund our city’s vital public services, it should also itemize its shareholder profits and other taxes,” City Hall spokesperson Jeremy Edwards told Politico.
Edwards provided the same statement to The Post, adding, “New Yorkers already pay some of the highest energy costs in the nation, and they deserve transparency from their utility provider.
“By misleading its customers about what’s really driving up their bills, Con Edison is adding insult to injury,” the spokesperson said.
City Hall also sought to shift the blame for higher property taxes to state officials.
The PSC approved large increases in Con Edison’s annual capital spending, which led to large increases in the value of its taxable real property, according to the mayor’s office.
Much of Con Edison’s property, including its poles, wires, transformers, pipes, and other equipment located in city streets, is assessed by the New York state, not the city.
And Con Edison’s property taxes increase each year because of it surging state property tax assessments, not city tax rates that have not been stable since 2017, Mamdani’s office said.
Con Ed said in a statement the pipes, wires, and equipment that make up its grid are taxed differently from regular commercial property and at a higher rate than utility peers.
In testimony on the state budget in February, Con Edison officials testified that the 21% share of customer bills is nearly double the 12% share at other utility companies.
“This disparity illustrates that Con Edison’s customers are uniquely exposed to elevated tax-driven charges that utilities in other regions simply do not face,” the company said in a statement. “As property taxes imposed on Con Edison flow directly and immediately into customer bills, any increase in these taxes results in higher costs for ratepayers.
“These charges are fixed components of delivery rates and customers have no ability to avoid or reduce them,” the statement went on. “Every additional tax assessment on Class 3 utility property is reflected in the bills paid by households, small businesses, and essential service providers.”
From 2019 to 2024, Con Ed’s operating expenses increased 27%, while its tax burden income increased by more than 36%, an independent study said.
As a result, the taxes have become a growing portion of the monthly bill charged to Con Ed customers.
A cap on annual property tax assessments on residential properties has shifted more of the tax burden on Con Ed.
“The slower market value appreciation of utility assets has resulted in utilities being the pressure valve in the New York City tax system by absorbing a greater share of excess annual property tax increases. Unfortunately, this regressive cap system may get worse in coming years,” the analysis by Paul Alexander said.
Con Edison has sought reforms in Albany that would reduce the tax burden on customers, including a state law to establish property tax exemptions and abatements for clean energy infrastructure investments.