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Regulatory Matters
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2023
Regulated Operations [Abstract]  
Regulatory Matters Regulatory Matters
Rate Plans
In March and April of 2023, CECONY and O&R applied for federal grants of $177 million and $125 million, respectively, to be appropriated under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). In addition, seven states, including NY State, submitted a proposal for a Northeast Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (the Hydrogen Hub) to the U.S. Department of Energy for funding under the IIJA. CECONY is seeking up to $116 million of funding to use carbon-free hydrogen to produce steam at its East River steam generating station as part of the Hydrogen Hub proposal. Federal grants obtained pursuant to the IIJA are expected to be used to reduce customers’ costs for investments in CECONY’s electric and steam systems and O&R's electric system.

In April 2023, the New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPSC) approved CECONY’s December 2022 petition seeking cost recovery approval for a proposed clean energy hub in Brooklyn, NY (Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub) at an estimated cost of $810 million, that is in addition to the capital expenditures approved in the CECONY joint proposal discussed below. The Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub has an estimated in-service date of December 2027 and addresses a 2028 reliability need. The Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub provides the flexibility for offshore wind resources to interconnect during construction and after it commences operation.

CECONY - Electric and Gas
In July 2023, the NYSPSC approved the February 2023 joint proposal among CECONY, the New York State Department of Public Service (NYSDPS) and other parties for electric and gas rate plans for the three-year period January 2023 through December 31, 2025. The CECONY electric and gas rate plans reflect a 9.25 percent return on common equity and a common equity ratio of 48 percent. The electric rate plan provides for rate increases of $442 million, $518 million and $382 million, effective January 1, 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively. The gas rate plan provides for rate increases of $217 million, $173 million and $122 million, effective January 1, 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively. The base rate increases will be implemented with increases of $457 million in each of the three rate years for electric and with increases of $187 million in each of the three rate years for gas in order to levelize the customer bill impact. The CECONY rate plans provide for total capital expenditures over the three-year rate period of $8,513 million and $3,297 million for electric and gas, respectively. Pursuant to the CECONY electric and gas rate plans, new rates were effective as of January 1, 2023 and CECONY reflected the provisions of the February 2023 joint proposal in its financial statements beginning January 1, 2023. The new base rates were implemented on August 1, 2023 and make-whole recovery for January 1, 2023 to July 31, 2023 will be collected via a surcharge through 2024 for electric and through 2025 for gas, including a carrying charge on the outstanding balance.
CECONY - Steam
In November 2022, CECONY filed a request with the NYSPSC for an increase in the rates it charges for steam service rendered in New York, effective November 2023, of $137 million. The filing reflects a return on common equity of 10 percent and a common equity ratio of 50 percent. CECONY requested a new mechanism for decoupling revenues from steam consumption and the continuation of provisions for recovery from customers of the cost of fuel and purchased steam and the reconciliation of actual expenses allocable to the steam business to the amounts for such expenses reflected in steam rates for pension and other postretirement benefits, environmental remediation expenses and uncollectible costs. In addition, CECONY requested full reconciliation of property taxes, municipal infrastructure support costs and long-term debt costs. The filing requested symmetrical reconciliation of inflation for labor and non-labor rates to the extent that the actual inflation rate deviates from what is assumed in the revenue requirement by 50 basis points up or down. The filing included supplemental information regarding steam rate plans for November 2024 through October 2025 and November 2025 through October 2026, which CECONY did not request but would consider through settlement discussions. For purposes of illustration, rate increases of $54 million and $49 million effective November 2024 and 2025, respectively, were calculated based upon an assumed return on common equity of 10 percent and a common equity ratio of 50 percent.

In February 2023, CECONY updated its November 2022 request to the NYSPSC for a steam rate increase effective November 2023. CECONY increased its requested November 2023 rate increase by $4 million to $141 million, increased its illustrated November 2024 rate increase by $1 million to $55 million and increased its illustrated November 2025 rate increase by $4 million to $53 million.

In March 2023, the NYSDPS submitted testimony in the NYSPSC proceeding in which CECONY requested a steam rate increase, effective November 2023. The NYSDPS testimony supports a steam rate increase of $94 million reflecting, among other things, a 9.0 percent return on common equity and a common equity ratio of 48 percent. The NYSDPS testimony does not support CECONY’s request for a new mechanism for decoupling revenues from steam consumption.

Rockland Electric Company (RECO)
In January 2022, RECO filed a request with FERC for an increase to its annual transmission revenue requirement from $16.9 million to $20.4 million. The revenue requirement reflects a return on common equity of 11.04 percent and a common equity ratio of 47 percent. In July 2023, RECO, the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) entered into a settlement agreement that resolves all issues set for hearing. The settlement agreement, subject to FERC approval, increases RECO’s annual transmission revenue requirement from $16.9 million to $18.2 million, effective August 30, 2022 through December 31, 2023 and to $20.7 million, effective January 1, 2024. The settlement revenue requirements do not specify a return on common equity.

In May 2023, RECO filed a petition with the NJBPU requesting permission to defer costs of $5.1 million related to major storms during 2022 and 2023 until RECO’s next base rate case.

COVID-19 Regulatory Matters
Governors, public utility commissions and other regulatory agencies in the states in which the Utilities operate have issued orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic that impact the Utilities as described below.

NY Regulation
In March 2020, a former New York State governor declared a State Disaster Emergency for the State of NY due to the COVID-19 pandemic and signed the "New York State on PAUSE" executive order that temporarily closed all non-essential businesses statewide. The former governor then lifted these closures over time and ended the emergency declaration in June 2021. As a result of the emergency declaration, and due to economic conditions, the NYSPSC and the Utilities have worked to mitigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Utilities, their customers and other stakeholders.

In March 2020, the Utilities began suspending service disconnections, certain collection notices, final bill collection agency activity, new late payment charges and certain other fees for all customers. The Utilities also began providing payment extensions for all customers that were scheduled to be disconnected prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, the state of NY enacted a law prohibiting NY utilities, including CECONY and O&R, from disconnecting residential customers, and starting in May 2021 small business customers, during the COVID-19 state of emergency, that ended in June 2021. In addition, such prohibitions were in effect until December 21, 2021 for residential and small business customers who experienced a change in financial circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November 2021, the NYSPSC issued an order establishing a surcharge recovery mechanism for CECONY to collect, commencing December 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022, $43 million and $7 million for electric and gas, respectively, of late payment charges and fees that were not billed for the year ended December 31, 2020. The company recorded such amounts as revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, as permitted under the accounting rules for regulated utilities, and also accrued such amounts as a current asset at December 31, 2021. Pursuant to the November 2021 order, CECONY also established a recovery mechanism to collect, commencing January 2023 through December 2023, $19 million and $4 million for electric and gas, respectively, of late payment charges and fees that were not billed for the year ended December 31, 2021 and CECONY recorded such amounts as revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, as permitted under the accounting rules for regulated utilities, and also accrued such amounts as a current asset at December 31, 2021. In addition, pursuant to the November 2021 order, CECONY established a reserve of $7 million toward addressing customer arrearages for the year ended December 31, 2021 and that, pursuant to the June 2022 NYSPSC Phase 1 Order (as discussed below), was used to fund a portion of the COVID-19 arrears assistance program for low-income customers. The November 2021 order also established a surcharge or sur-credit mechanism for any late payment charges and fee deferrals, subject to offsetting related savings resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, for 2022 starting in January 2024 over a twelve-month period. The current CECONY electric and gas rate plans include the impact of the 2022 late payment charges and fee deferrals in the proposed revenue requirements, superseding the provisions in the November 2021 order.
CECONY’s and O&R’s rate plans that were in effect through 2022 and 2021, respectively, allowed them to defer costs resulting from a change in legislation, regulation and related actions that have taken effect during the term of the rate plans once the costs exceed a specified threshold. CECONY's and O&R’s current rate plans have deferral provisions related to uncollectible expenses. CECONY’s 2023 - 2025 rate plans include reconciliation of late payment charges (from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025) and write-offs of customer accounts receivable balances (from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2025) to amounts reflected in rates, with recovery/refund from or to customers via surcharge/sur-credit. Surcharge recoveries for late payment charges and write-offs of accounts receivable balances will, collectively, be subject to separate annual caps for electric and gas that produce no more than a half percent (0.5 percent) total customer bill impact per commodity (estimated for electric to be $57.3 million, $60.3 million, $62.6 million for 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively, and for gas to be $14.8 million, $15.9 million and $16.8 million for 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively). Amounts in excess of the surcharge caps will be deferred as a regulatory asset for recovery in CECONY’s next base rate cases. O&R’s 2022 – 2024 rate plans include reconciliation of late payment charges to amounts reflected in rates for years 2022 through 2024, with full recovery/refund via surcharge/sur-credit once the annual variance equals or exceeds 5 basis points of return on equity and reconciliation of write-offs of customer accounts receivable balances to amounts reflected in rates from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2024, with full recovery/refund via surcharge/sur-credit once the annual variance equals or exceeds 5 basis points of return on equity. The total reserve increases to the allowance for uncollectible accounts from January 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023 reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for CECONY electric and gas operations and O&R electric and gas operations were $202 million and $3 million, respectively. CECONY's and O&R's rate plans also provide for an allowance for write-offs of customer accounts receivable balances. The amounts by which actual write-offs of customer accounts receivable balances exceeded the allowances reflected in rates were deferred pursuant to CECONY's and O&R's New York rate plans. Such differences were $37 million and $1 million for CECONY and O&R, respectively, from March 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023.

In June 2020, the NYSPSC directed CECONY to implement a summer cooling credit program to help mitigate the cost of staying home and operating air conditioning for health-vulnerable low-income customers due to the limited availability of public cooling facilities as a result of the COVID-19 social distancing measures. The $63.4 million cost of the program is being recovered over a five-year period that began January 2021.

In April 2021, NY passed a law that created a program that allows eligible residential renters in NY who require assistance with rent and utility bills to have up to twelve months of electric and gas utility bill arrears forgiven, provided that such arrears were accrued on or after March 13, 2020. The program is administered by the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) in coordination with the NYSDPS (the OTDA Program). Under the OTDA Program, CECONY and O&R qualify for a refundable tax credit for NY gross-receipts tax equal to the amount of arrears waived by the Utilities in the year that the arrears are waived and certified by the NYSPSC. OTDA may also use the program funds to provide additional Home Energy Assistance Program payments to the Utilities on behalf of low-income customers.

In April 2022, NY approved the 2022-2023 state budget, that included $250 million for addressing statewide residential utility customers' arrears balances accrued from March 7, 2020 through March 1, 2022. In June 2022, the NYSPSC issued an order implementing a COVID-19 arrears assistance program that provides credits towards reducing the arrears balances of low-income electric and gas customers of CECONY and O&R (Phase 1 Order).
Pursuant to the Phase 1 Order, CECONY and O&R agreed not to seek recovery of incremental financing costs incurred associated with low-income customers' arrears from March 2020 through March 2022 of $11 million, most of which is attributable to CECONY, in addition to the $7 million reserve established by CECONY for the year ended December 31, 2021, pursuant to the November 2021 order, described above.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, CECONY and O&R issued total credits of $359.9 million and $6.1 million, respectively, towards reducing customers’ accounts receivable balances. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the total credits for CECONY were comprised of: $164.5 million pursuant to the NY funding; $108.4 million pursuant to the Phase 1 Order, that will be recovered over a four-year period via a surcharge mechanism that began September 1, 2022; the $7 million reserve for CECONY described above; and $80.0 million in qualified tax credits and payments pursuant to the OTDA Program described above. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the total credits for O&R were comprised of: $1.6 million pursuant to the NY funding; $3.2 million pursuant to the Phase 1 Order, that will be recovered over a one-year period via a surcharge mechanism that began September 1, 2022; and $1.3 million in qualified tax credits and payments pursuant to the OTDA Program described above.

In January 2023, the NYSPSC issued an order implementing a COVID-19 arrears assistance program that provides credits towards reducing the arrears balances of residential and small commercial electric and gas customers of CECONY and O&R (Phase 2 Order). The Phase 2 Order authorizes a surcharge mechanism for recovery of the eligible credit amounts over a ten-year period commencing after credits are issued for CECONY and over a one-year period commencing after credits are issued for O&R. Pursuant to the Phase 2 Order, CECONY and O&R agreed not to seek recovery of incremental financing costs incurred associated with arrears from March 2020 through December 2022 estimated to be $46 million, most of which is attributable to CECONY.

For the three months ended June 30, 2023, CECONY and O&R issued immaterial amounts of total net credits towards reducing customers' account receivable balances.

For the six months ended June 30, 2023, CECONY and O&R issued total net credits of $343.2 million and $2.6 million, respectively, towards reducing customers' account receivable balances. For the six months ended June 30, 2023, the total credits for CECONY were comprised of: $13.2 million pursuant to the Phase 1 Order, $327.6 million pursuant to the Phase 2 Order, and $2.4 million in qualified tax credits and payments pursuant to the OTDA Program. For the six months ended June 30, 2023, the total credits for O&R were comprised of: $0.1 million pursuant to the Phase 1 Order, $2.1 million pursuant to the Phase 2 Order, and $0.4 million in qualified tax credits and payments pursuant to the OTDA Program.

The Utilities’ rate plans have revenue decoupling mechanisms in their NY electric and gas businesses that largely reconcile actual energy delivery revenues to the authorized delivery revenues approved by the NYSPSC per month and reconcile the deferred balances semi-annually under CECONY's electric rate plan (January through June and July through December, respectively) and annually under CECONY's gas rate plan and O&R's NY electric and gas rate plans (January through December). Differences are accrued with interest each month for CECONY's and O&R's NY electric customers and after the annual deferral period ends for CECONY's and O&R's NY gas customers for refund to, or recovery from customers, as applicable. Generally, the refund to or recovery from customers begins August and February of each year over an ensuing six-month period for CECONY's electric customers and February of each year over an ensuing twelve-month period for CECONY's gas and O&R's NY electric and gas customers.

NJ Regulation
In March 2020, NJ Governor Murphy declared a Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency for the State of NJ. In June 2021, the Governor ended the emergency declaration. As a result of the emergency declaration, and due to economic conditions, the NJBPU and RECO have worked to mitigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on RECO, its customers and other stakeholders. In March 2020, RECO began suspending late payment charges, terminations for non-payment, and no access fees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension of these fees continued through July 31, 2021 and were not material.
In July 2020, the NJBPU authorized RECO and other NJ utilities to create a COVID-19-related regulatory asset by deferring prudently incurred incremental costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic beginning on March 9, 2020. Through a series of orders, the NJBPU extended such deferrals through March 15, 2023. Pursuant to a June 2023 order from the NJBPU, RECO will defer its COVID-19 regulatory asset of $0.3 million and seek recovery in its next base rate case.

Gas Safety
In April 2020, the NYSPSC issued an order that extended the deadlines to complete certain gas inspections by all NY gas utilities, including CECONY and O&R, from April 1, 2020 to August 1, 2020. The deadlines were subsequently extended to September 2, 2020 and June 1, 2022. CECONY and O&R have taken all reasonable measures to complete such inspections. As of June 1, 2022, O&R completed all of its required inspections. As of June 1, 2022, CECONY substantially completed its required inspections and continues to make progress on completing such required inspections. CECONY is unable to estimate the amount or range of its possible loss, if any, related to this matter. At June 30, 2023, CECONY had not accrued a liability related to this matter.

Other Regulatory Matters
CECONY and O&R are in the process of replacing their separate existing customer billing and information systems with a single new customer billing and information system. In April 2023, CECONY filed a petition with the NYSPSC for permission to capitalize incremental costs (estimated at $75 million) for the new system above a $421 million limit on capital expenditures included in CECONY’s 2020 – 2022 electric and gas rate plans, subject to NYSPSC review. At June 30, 2023, CECONY's costs for the new system were $423.6 million. O&R's 2022 - 2024 electric and gas rate plans do not include a limit on capitalization of new system costs.

In January 2018, the NYSPSC issued an order initiating a focused operations audit of the Utilities’ financial accounting for income taxes. The audit is investigating the Utilities’ inadvertent understatement of a portion, the amount of which may be material, of their calculation of total federal income tax expense for ratemaking purposes. The understatement was related to the calculation of plant retirement-related cost of removal. As a result of such understatement, the Utilities accumulated significant income tax regulatory assets that were not reflected in O&R’s rate plans prior to 2014, CECONY’s electric and gas rate plans prior to 2015 and 2016, respectively, and is currently not reflected in CECONY’s steam rate plan but a prospective correction was proposed in CECONY's November 2022 steam rate filing. This understatement of historical income tax expense materially reduced the amount of revenue collected from the Utilities' customers in the past. As part of the audit, the Utilities plan to pursue a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that is expected to confirm, among other things, that in order to comply with IRS normalization rules, such understatement may not be corrected through a write-down of a portion of the regulatory asset and must be corrected through an increase in future years’ revenue requirements. The regulatory asset ($1,128 million and $20 million for CECONY and O&R, respectively, as of June 30, 2023) and ($1,150 million and $22 million for CECONY and O&R, respectively, as of December 31, 2022 and which is not earning a return) is netted against the future income tax regulatory liability on the Companies’ consolidated balance sheet. The Utilities are unable to estimate the amount or range of their possible loss, if any, related to this matter. At June 30, 2023, the Utilities had not accrued a liability related to this matter.


Regulatory Assets and Liabilities
Regulatory assets and liabilities at June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022 were comprised of the following items:
 
  
         Con Edison        CECONY
(Millions of Dollars)2023202220232022
Regulatory assets
Unrecognized pension and other postretirement costs$123$78$123$78
Environmental remediation costs985991900906
Revenue taxes454436434417
Deferred storm costs239270143173
Municipal infrastructure support costs929929 
Brooklyn Queens demand management program31333133
Meadowlands heater odorization project25272527
Recoverable Demonstration project costs18171716
Gate station upgrade project14141414
System peak reduction and energy efficiency programs832783825780
Unamortized loss on reacquired debt911810
Deferred derivative losses - long term65316026
Property tax reconciliation146121146121
Legacy meters1820
Gas service line deferred costs54995499
COVID - 19 customer arrears relief programs433104 430101 
Pension and other postretirement benefits deferrals11627993240
Preferred stock redemption19191919
MTA power reliability deferral77927792
Non-wire alternative projects20222022
COVID - 19 pandemic deferrals285292281288
Electric vehicle make ready50334530
Other202173190148
Regulatory assets – noncurrent4,2243,9743,9443,669
Deferred derivative losses - short term159184153178
Recoverable energy costs3112120108
Regulatory assets – current190305173286
Total Regulatory Assets$4,414$4,279$4,117$3,955
Regulatory liabilities
Future income tax*1,6491,7531,5141,616
Allowance for cost of removal less salvage1,3461,3151,1621,137
Net unbilled revenue deferrals158204158204 
Energy efficiency portfolio standard unencumbered funds5577
Settlement of prudence proceeding810810
Earnings sharing - electric, gas and steam1313 1010 
System benefit charge carrying charge81737969
BQDM and Demonstration project reconciliations19231721
Pension and other postretirement benefit deferrals17914413198
Property tax refunds35353535
COVID - 19 pandemic uncollectible reconciliation deferral912912
Late payment charge deferral150127 145123 
Unrecognized pension and other postretirement costs1,3401,6381,2571,536
Net proceeds from sale of property60695869
Sales and use tax refunds32373036
Workers’ compensation13111311 
Deferred derivative gains - long term2814526130
Other356413308357
Regulatory liabilities – noncurrent5,4816,0274,9675,481
Refundable energy costs493419
Revenue decoupling mechanism42921
Deferred derivative gains - short term10131193287
Regulatory liabilities – current154374112308
Total Regulatory Liabilities$5,635$6,401$5,079$5,789
* See "Other Regulatory Matters," above.

In general, the Utilities receive or are being credited with a return at the Other Customer-Provided Capital rate for regulatory assets that have not been included in rate base, and receive or are being credited with a return at the pre-tax weighted average cost of capital once the asset is included in rate base. Similarly, the Utilities pay to or credit customers with a return at the Other Customer-Provided Capital rate for regulatory liabilities that have not been included in rate base, and pay to or credit customers with a return at the pre-tax weighted average cost of capital once the liability is included in rate base. The Other Customer-Provided Capital rate for the six months ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 was 5.20 percent and 1.75 percent, respectively.
In general, the Utilities are receiving or being credited with a return on their regulatory assets for which a cash outflow has been made ($2,375 million and $2,304 million for Con Edison, and $2,196 million and $2,097 million for CECONY at June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively). Regulatory assets of RECO for which a cash outflow has been made ($20 million and $21 million at June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively) are not receiving or being credited with a return. RECO recovers regulatory assets over a period of up to four years or until they are addressed in its next base rate case in accordance with the rate provisions approved by the NJBPU. Regulatory liabilities are treated in a consistent manner.

Regulatory assets that represent future financial obligations and were deferred in accordance with the Utilities’ rate plans or orders issued by state regulators do not earn a return until such time as a cash outlay has been made. Regulatory liabilities are treated in a consistent manner. At June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, regulatory assets for Con Edison and CECONY that did not earn a return consisted of the following items:
Regulatory Assets Not Earning a Return*
                  Con Edison                CECONY
(Millions of Dollars)2023202220232022
Unrecognized pension and other postretirement costs$123$78$123$78
Environmental remediation costs985987900903
Revenue taxes449414431397
COVID-19 Deferral for Uncollectible Accounts Receivable205253202249
Deferred derivative losses - current159184153178
Deferred derivative losses - long term65316026
Other53285227
Total$2,039$1,975$1,921$1,858
*This table presents regulatory assets not earning a return for which no cash outlay has been made.
The recovery periods for regulatory assets for which a cash outflow has not been made and that do not earn a return have not yet been determined, except as noted below, and are expected to be determined pursuant to the Utilities’ future rate plans to be filed or orders issued by the state regulators in connection therewith.
The Utilities recover unrecognized pension and other postretirement costs over 10 years, and the portion of investment gains or losses recognized in expense over 15 years, pursuant to NYSPSC policy.
The deferral for revenue taxes represents the New York State metropolitan transportation business tax surcharge on the cumulative temporary differences between the book and tax basis of assets and liabilities of the Utilities, as well as the difference between taxes collected and paid by the Utilities to fund mass transportation. The Utilities recover the majority of the revenue taxes over the remaining book lives of the electric and gas plant assets, as well as the steam plant assets for CECONY.
The Utilities recover deferred derivative losses – current within one year, and noncurrent generally within three years.