Other Material Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Other Material Contingencies

Note H — Other Material Contingencies

Manhattan Steam Main Rupture

In July 2007, a CECONY steam main located in midtown Manhattan ruptured. It has been reported that one person died and others were injured as a result of the incident. Several buildings in the area were damaged. Debris from the incident included dirt and mud containing asbestos. The response to the incident required the closing of several buildings and streets for various periods. Approximately 93 suits are pending against the company seeking generally unspecified compensatory and, in some cases, punitive damages, for personal injury, property damage and business interruption. The company has not accrued a liability for the suits. The company has notified its insurers of the incident and believes that the policies in force at the time of the incident will cover most of the company's costs, which the company is unable to estimate, but which could be substantial, to satisfy its liability to others in connection with the incident.

Investigations of Vendor Payments

In January 2009, CECONY commenced an internal investigation relating to the arrests of certain employees and retired employees (all of whom have since been convicted) for accepting kickbacks from contractors that performed construction work for the company. The company has retained a law firm, which has retained an accounting firm, to assist in the company's investigation. The company has provided information to governmental authorities, which consider the company to be a victim of unlawful conduct, in connection with their investigation of the arrested employees and contractors. The company has terminated its employment of the arrested employees and its contracts with the contractors. In February 2009, the NYSPSC commenced a proceeding that, among other things, will examine the prudence of certain of the company's expenditures relating to the arrests and consider whether additional expenditures should also be examined (see "Other Regulatory Matters" in Note B).

CECONY is also investigating the September 2010 arrest of a retired employee (who has since been convicted of participating in a bribery scheme in which the employee received payments from two companies that supplied materials to the company) and the January 2011 arrest of an employee (for accepting kickbacks from an engineering firm that performed work for the company). CECONY has provided information to governmental authorities in connection with their ongoing investigations of these matters.

The company, based upon its evaluation of its internal controls for 2011 and previous years, believes that the controls were effective to provide reasonable assurance that its financial statements have been fairly presented, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Because the company's investigations are ongoing, the company is unable to predict the impact of any of the employees' unlawful conduct on the company's internal controls, business, results of operations or financial position.

Other Contingencies

See "Lease In/Lease Out Transactions" in Note J.

Guarantees

Con Edison and its subsidiaries enter into various agreements providing financial or performance assurance primarily to third parties on behalf of their subsidiaries. Maximum amounts guaranteed by Con Edison totaled $760 million and $859 million at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

A summary, by type and term, of Con Edison's total guarantees at December 31, 2011 is as follows:

Guarantee Type	0 – 3 years		4 – 10 years		> 10 years		Total
	(millions of dollars)
Energy transactions	$	640	$	3	$	63	$	706
Intra-company guarantees		15		—		1		16
Other guarantees		25		13		—		38
TOTAL	$	680	$	16	$	64	$	760

Energy Transactions – Con Edison guarantees payments on behalf of its competitive energy businesses in order to facilitate physical and financial transactions in gas, pipeline capacity, transportation, oil, electricity and energy services. To the extent that liabilities exist under the contracts subject to these guarantees, such liabilities are included in Con Edison's consolidated balance sheet.

Intra-company Guarantees – Con Edison guarantees electricity sales made by Con Edison Energy and Con Edison Solutions to O&R and CECONY.

Other Guarantees – Con Edison also guarantees the following:

• $13 million relates to guarantees issued by Con Edison to CECONY covering a former Con Edison subsidiary's lease payment to use CECONY's conduit system in accordance with a tariff approved by the NYSPSC and a guarantee issued by Con Edison to a landlord to guarantee the former subsidiary's obligations under a building lease. The former subsidiary is obligated to reimburse Con Edison for any payments made under these guarantees. This obligation is fully secured by letters of credit;

• $25 million for guarantees provided by Con Edison to Travelers Insurance Company for indemnity agreements for surety bonds in connection with energy service projects performed by Con Edison Solutions; and

• Con Edison, on behalf of Con Edison Solutions, as a retail electric provider, issued a guarantee to the Public Utility Commission of Texas with no specified limitation on the amount guaranteed, covering the payment of all obligations of a retail electric provider. Con Edison's estimate of the maximum potential obligation is $5 million as of December 31, 2011.

CECONY [Member]

Other Material Contingencies

Note H — Other Material Contingencies

Manhattan Steam Main Rupture

In July 2007, a CECONY steam main located in midtown Manhattan ruptured. It has been reported that one person died and others were injured as a result of the incident. Several buildings in the area were damaged. Debris from the incident included dirt and mud containing asbestos. The response to the incident required the closing of several buildings and streets for various periods. Approximately 93 suits are pending against the company seeking generally unspecified compensatory and, in some cases, punitive damages, for personal injury, property damage and business interruption. The company has not accrued a liability for the suits. The company has notified its insurers of the incident and believes that the policies in force at the time of the incident will cover most of the company's costs, which the company is unable to estimate, but which could be substantial, to satisfy its liability to others in connection with the incident.

Investigations of Vendor Payments

In January 2009, CECONY commenced an internal investigation relating to the arrests of certain employees and retired employees (all of whom have since been convicted) for accepting kickbacks from contractors that performed construction work for the company. The company has retained a law firm, which has retained an accounting firm, to assist in the company's investigation. The company has provided information to governmental authorities, which consider the company to be a victim of unlawful conduct, in connection with their investigation of the arrested employees and contractors. The company has terminated its employment of the arrested employees and its contracts with the contractors. In February 2009, the NYSPSC commenced a proceeding that, among other things, will examine the prudence of certain of the company's expenditures relating to the arrests and consider whether additional expenditures should also be examined (see "Other Regulatory Matters" in Note B).

CECONY is also investigating the September 2010 arrest of a retired employee (who has since been convicted of participating in a bribery scheme in which the employee received payments from two companies that supplied materials to the company) and the January 2011 arrest of an employee (for accepting kickbacks from an engineering firm that performed work for the company). CECONY has provided information to governmental authorities in connection with their ongoing investigations of these matters.

The company, based upon its evaluation of its internal controls for 2011 and previous years, believes that the controls were effective to provide reasonable assurance that its financial statements have been fairly presented, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Because the company's investigations are ongoing, the company is unable to predict the impact of any of the employees' unlawful conduct on the company's internal controls, business, results of operations or financial position.

Other Contingencies

See "Lease In/Lease Out Transactions" in Note J.

Guarantees

Con Edison and its subsidiaries enter into various agreements providing financial or performance assurance primarily to third parties on behalf of their subsidiaries. Maximum amounts guaranteed by Con Edison totaled $760 million and $859 million at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

A summary, by type and term, of Con Edison's total guarantees at December 31, 2011 is as follows:

Guarantee Type	0 – 3 years		4 – 10 years		> 10 years		Total
	(millions of dollars)
Energy transactions	$	640	$	3	$	63	$	706
Intra-company guarantees		15		—		1		16
Other guarantees		25		13		—		38
TOTAL	$	680	$	16	$	64	$	760

Energy Transactions – Con Edison guarantees payments on behalf of its competitive energy businesses in order to facilitate physical and financial transactions in gas, pipeline capacity, transportation, oil, electricity and energy services. To the extent that liabilities exist under the contracts subject to these guarantees, such liabilities are included in Con Edison's consolidated balance sheet.

Intra-company Guarantees – Con Edison guarantees electricity sales made by Con Edison Energy and Con Edison Solutions to O&R and CECONY.

Other Guarantees – Con Edison also guarantees the following:

• $13 million relates to guarantees issued by Con Edison to CECONY covering a former Con Edison subsidiary's lease payment to use CECONY's conduit system in accordance with a tariff approved by the NYSPSC and a guarantee issued by Con Edison to a landlord to guarantee the former subsidiary's obligations under a building lease. The former subsidiary is obligated to reimburse Con Edison for any payments made under these guarantees. This obligation is fully secured by letters of credit;

• $25 million for guarantees provided by Con Edison to Travelers Insurance Company for indemnity agreements for surety bonds in connection with energy service projects performed by Con Edison Solutions; and

• Con Edison, on behalf of Con Edison Solutions, as a retail electric provider, issued a guarantee to the Public Utility Commission of Texas with no specified limitation on the amount guaranteed, covering the payment of all obligations of a retail electric provider. Con Edison's estimate of the maximum potential obligation is $5 million as of December 31, 2011.