If you live in New York City, you know the monthly ritual: opening your Con Edison bill, seeing a number that looks like a mortgage payment, and wondering if you accidentally left a particle accelerator running in the spare bedroom.
But as we head into 2026, the frustration has moved past "annoying" and straight into "sham" territory. Here is why New Yorkers are increasingly viewing their utility provider as a masterclass in corporate gaslighting.
1. The "Bait and Switch" Rate Hikes
In early 2025, Con Ed pulled a classic maneuver. They requested a staggering 11.4% increase for electricity and 13.3% for gas. After a year of public outcry, protests, and political posturing, they "settled" for a lower number—roughly 3.5% to 4.4% starting in 2026.
The Reality: This isn't a "win" for consumers; it’s a psychological trick. By starting with a preposterous, double-digit demand, they make a 4% hike—which still outpaces many people's wage growth—look like a compromise. It’s the "door-in-the-face" technique used to extract more money from a captive audience that has literally nowhere else to go.
2. Record Profits vs. Record Shutoffs
While Con Ed executives tout "affordability," the numbers tell a different story. In the first half of 2025 alone, the company disconnected 88,000 households for non-payment—triple the rate of the previous year.
Meanwhile, Con Ed reported over $1 billion in net income for the first half of 2025. When a company is cutting the power to tens of thousands of families during extreme heat and cold while reporting billion-dollar profits, calling it a "public service" feels like a stretch. It’s a profit machine disguised as a utility.
3. The Delivery Charge Mystery
Check your bill. You’ll notice the "Supply" charge (the actual cost of the energy you used) is often dwarfed by the "Delivery" charge. Con Ed argues this is for "infrastructure and reliability."
Yet, in late 2025, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) warned that the city faces potential blackouts as early as the summer of 2026. If we are paying world-class delivery prices for a grid that is officially "at an inflection point" and facing reliability gaps, where exactly is that delivery money going?
4. The Green Energy Scapegoat
Con Ed frequently points to New York’s aggressive climate goals as the reason for rising costs. While modernizing the grid is expensive, critics point out that the company is using these mandates to bake in a higher Return on Equity (ROE)—essentially guaranteed profit for shareholders. They are leveraging the "Green Transition" to ensure that even if you use less energy, your bill keeps going up to protect their dividends.
The Bottom Line
Con Edison isn’t a competitor in a free market; it’s a state-sanctioned monopoly. When a company can hike rates, shut off the poor in record numbers, and still fail to guarantee grid reliability while paying out massive dividends, the word "sham" starts to feel less like hyperbole and more like a clinical diagnosis.
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