Con Edison Offers New Tool to Track Progress on Clean Energy

Con Edison has officially launched its Clean Energy Update, providing information on the latest installations on transforming the power grid — and giving co-op and condo boards vital data as they strive to reduce their buildings' carbon emissions, amNY reports. 

Updated quarterly, the progress report provides updates on the installations of solar panels, battery storage, electric vehicle chargers and other technologies. These reports aim to make it easier to keep track of the deployment of customer-owned clean energy technologies as Con Edison expands and develops its service area, which includes 10 million people in New York City and Westchester County.

“The energy landscape is evolving faster than at any time in our company’s 200-year history, shifting toward cleaner, more decentralized and community-based energy solutions,” says Con Edison Chairman and CEO Tim Cawley. “The energy system of the future will put far more control in the hands of customers. This new era calls for unprecedented transparency and accessibility of information.”

Con Edison has committed as a company to deliver 100% clean energy by 2040, as outlined in its company’s recently expanded Clean Energy Commitment, which will come from a combination of large renewable generators, such as offshore wind turbines, hydroelectric power piped down from Canada, solar power from upstate solar farms, and solar panels owned by customers. The resulting "greening" of the electric grid will be a key factor as co-ops and condos, residential and commercial buildings try to wean themselves from fossil fuels.

Highlights of the recent Clean Energy Update include:

• New York City and Westchester customers have lowered their energy bills through the ownership nearly 45,000 rooftop solar systems, with Queens leading the way for city solar with more than 14,000 systems installed.
• Con Edison customers installed 7,280 solar energy systems in 2021, with these panels expected to generate the equivalent amount of energy as approximately 22,000 New York City homes would consume in a year.
• Electric heat pumps and other clean heat technologies have become popular in the New York City region, helping buildings move away from on-site fossil fuel consumption. Con Edison incentivized more than 9,700 clean heat projects in 2021, a 300% jump on the previous year, when the program began. Buildings produce about two-thirds of the city's carbon emissions.
• Electric vehicle registrations are accelerating, with more than 30,000 EVs now on the road in the city and Westchester. Con Edison’s PowerReady incentive program has supported installation of 359 EV chargers through March 2022, including 42 DC fast chargers. Through PowerReady, the company aims to support the installation of approximately 19,000 charging plugs by 2025.

The Con Edison Clean Energy Update will complement the NYC Climate Dashboard launched recently by the city's Office of the Comptroller, which tracks the city’s progress in meeting its climate goals.