Con Edison Rate Hike Delayed but Customers Still Face Retroactive Charges

New Yorkers can expect to owe back payments on their gas and electric bills in 2026, as state regulators have yet to formally approve a rate hike negotiated between Con Edison and the state earlier this year.

Although the increases were intended to take effect on January 1, the New York State Public Service Commission has not completed the necessary vote to finalize the new rates. In the meantime, Con Edison will continue billing customers at 2025 rates through at least the end of February.

Once the new rates are approved, however, they will be applied retroactively to the beginning of the year, leaving customers responsible for the difference. That means residential electricity bills in New York City will rise by about $4 a month and gas bills by approximately $10.67 per month, with the increase calculated back to January.

This delayed implementation mirrors what happened in 2023, when the rate case was not approved until July. Instead of rates rising gradually over the year, the increases were compressed into the remaining months, New York Focus reported at the time.

A procedural vote held last week by the Public Service Commission authorized Con Edison to continue charging existing rates temporarily. A final vote to adopt the new rates has not yet been scheduled. The commission reports to the Department of Public Service, the state agency responsible for negotiating utility rates.

If approved as expected, the new plan would raise electricity delivery rates by 3.5% in 2026, followed by 3.2% in 2027 and 3.1% in 2028. Gas rates would increase by 4.4% in 2026, then 5.7% in 2027 and 5.6% in 2028.

State Senator Shelley Mayer, a vocal critic of utility rate hikes, is backing legislation that would limit how much utilities can collect retroactively. According to the proposal, companies could recover 90% of the rate increase for the first two months of any delay, but a smaller portion for subsequent months.

“They should share some of the risks of the rate case taking longer than under the statutory timeline,” said Ian Donaldson of the Public Utility Law Project, which supports the bill. “We believe the customer should ultimately be held harmless.”

The current rate proposal marks a significant reduction from Con Edison’s original request earlier this year. In January, the utility submitted a rate case seeking a one-time 2026 increase that would have raised average gas bills by 13%, or $46.42 per month, and electric bills by 19%, or $26.60 per month.

After receiving widespread criticism during the public comment period and facing pushback from elected officials including Governor Kathy Hochul, Con Edison and regulators revised the proposal. They ultimately cut the requested additional gas revenue by about 60% and slashed the electricity increase by approximately 34%.

Despite the reduction, Mayer maintains the new rates are still too high.

“For rate payers, it still is over time, over a three-year period, a substantial increase in the rates for electric and gas delivery. And to me it's unacceptable,” she said.

The issue of rising utility costs has attracted bipartisan concern. In November, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani met with President Donald Trump, and the two reportedly found common ground on the need to rein in Con Edison’s charges.

“We have to get Con Edison to start lowering the rates,” Trump said during the meeting. Mamdani agreed, replying, “Absolutely.”

Following that meeting, a Con Edison spokesperson said the company is open to working with the incoming mayor on efforts to make energy more affordable.

In the meantime, customers facing difficulty paying their energy bills can apply for assistance through the Home Energy Assistance Program, or HEAP. After a delay caused by the federal government shutdown, applications opened in early December. The program can provide up to $996 toward fuel or heating and cooling equipment. Emergency HEAP payments, designated for urgent needs such as utility shutoff avoidance or equipment repair, will become available beginning January 2.