Regulatory Matters

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Rate Plans

In October 2019, CECONY, the staff of the New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPSC) and other parties entered into a Joint Proposal for CECONY electric and gas rate plans for the three-year period January 2020 through December 2022. The Joint Proposal is subject to NYSPSC approval. The following tables contain a summary of the rate plans.



CECONY Electric
Effective period		January 2020 – December 2022 (c)
Base rate changes (a)		Yr. 1 – $113 million Yr. 2 – $370 million Yr. 3 – $326 million
Amortizations to income of net regulatory liabilities (b)		Yr. 1 – $267 million Yr. 2 – $269 million Yr. 3 – $272 million
Other revenue sources		Retention of $75 million of annual transmission congestion revenues. Potential earnings adjustment mechanism incentives for energy efficiency and other potential incentives of up to: Yr. 1 - $69 million; Yr. 2 - $74 million; and Yr. 3 - $79 million.
Revenue decoupling mechanism		Continuation of reconciliation of actual to authorized electric delivery revenues.
Recoverable energy costs		Continuation of current rate recovery of purchased power and fuel costs.
Negative revenue adjustments		Potential charges if certain performance targets relating to service, reliability, safety and other matters are not met: Yr. 1 - $450 million; Yr. 2 - $461 million; and Yr. 3 - $476 million.
Cost reconciliations		Continuation of reconciliation of expenses for pension and other postretirement benefits, variable-rate debt, major storms, property taxes (d), municipal infrastructure support costs (e), the impact of new laws and environmental site investigation and remediation to amounts reflected in rates. (f)
Net utility plant reconciliations		Target levels reflected in rates: Electric average net plant target excluding advanced metering infrastructure (AMI): Yr. 1 - $24,572 million; Yr. 2 - $25,366 million; Yr. 3 - $26,197 million AMI: Yr. 1 - $572 million; Yr. 2 - $740 million; Yr. 3 - $806 million (g)
Average rate base		Yr. 1 - $21,660 million Yr. 2 - $22,783 million Yr. 3 - $23,926 million
Weighted average cost of capital (after-tax)		6.61 percent
Authorized return on common equity		8.80 percent
Earnings sharing		Most earnings above an annual earnings threshold of 9.3 percent are to be applied to reduce regulatory assets for environmental remediation and other costs accumulated in the rate year.
Cost of long-term debt		4.63 percent
Common equity ratio		48 percent

(a)

Base rates reflect recovery by the company of certain costs of its energy efficiency, Reforming the Energy Vision demonstration projects, non-wire alternative projects (including the Brooklyn Queens demand management program), and off-peak electric vehicle charging programs (Yr. 1 - $206 million; Yr. 2 - $245 million; and Yr. 3 - $251 million) over a ten-year period, including the overall pre-tax rate of return on such costs.

(b)

Amounts reflect amortization of the 2018 tax savings under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) allocable to CECONY’s electric customers ($377 million) over a three-year period ($126 million annually), the protected portion of the regulatory liability for excess deferred income taxes allocable to CECONY’s electric customers ($1,663 million) over the remaining lives of the related assets ($49 million in Yr. 1, $50 million in Yr. 2, and $53 million in Yr. 3) and the unprotected portion of the net regulatory liability ($784 million) over five years ($157 million annually). Amounts also reflect amortization of the regulatory asset for deferred MTA power reliability costs ($238 million) over a 5-year period ($48 million annually).


(c)	If at the end of any semi-annual period ending June 30 and December 31, Consolidated Edison Inc.’s investments in its non-utility businesses exceed 15 percent of its total consolidated revenues, assets or cash flow, or if the ratio of holding company debt to total

consolidated debt rises above 20 percent, CECONY is required to notify the NYSPSC and submit a ring-fencing plan or a demonstration why additional ring-fencing measures are not necessary.


(d)	Deferrals for property taxes are limited to 90 percent of the difference from amounts reflected in rates, subject to an annual maximum for the remaining difference of not more than a maximum number of basis points impact on return on common equity: Yr. 1 - 10.0 basis points; Yr. 2 - 7.5 basis points; and Yr. 3 - 5.0 basis points.

(e)

In general, if actual expenses for municipal infrastructure support (other than company labor) are below the amounts reflected in rates the company will defer the difference for credit to customers, and if the actual expenses are above the amount reflected in rates the company will defer for recovery from customers 80 percent of the difference subject to a maximum deferral, subject to certain exceptions, of 15 percent of the amount reflected in rates.


(f)	In addition, the NYSPSC staff has commenced a focused operations audit to investigate the income tax accounting of CECONY and other New York utilities. Any NYSPSC-ordered adjustment to CECONY’s income tax accounting will be refunded to or collected from customers, as determined by the NYSPSC.


(g)	Reconciliation of net utility plant for AMI will be done on a combined basis for electric and gas.



CECONY Gas
Effective period		January 2020 – December 2022 (c)
Base rate changes (a)		Yr. 1 – $84 million Yr. 2 – $122 million Yr. 3 – $167 million
Amortizations to income of net regulatory liabilities (b)		Yr. 1 – $45 million Yr. 2 – $43 million Yr. 3 – $10 million
Other revenue sources		Retention of annual revenues from non-firm customers of up to $65 million and 15 percent of any such revenues above $65 million. Potential earnings adjusted mechanism incentives for energy efficiency and other potential incentives of up to Yr. 1 - $20 million; Yr. 2 - $22 million; and Yr. 3 - $25 million
Revenue decoupling mechanism		Continuation of reconciliation of actual to authorized gas delivery revenues, modified to be calculated based upon revenue per customer class instead of revenue per customer.
Recoverable energy costs		Continuation of current rate recovery of purchased gas costs.
Negative revenue adjustments		Potential charges if performance targets relating to service, safety and other matters are not met: Yr. 1 - $81 million; Yr. 2 - $88 million; and Yr. 3 - $96 million.
Cost reconciliations		Continuation of reconciliation of expenses for pension and other postretirement benefits, variable-rate debt, major storms, property taxes (d), municipal infrastructure support costs (e), the impact of new laws and environmental site investigation and remediation to amounts reflected in rates. (f)
Net utility plant reconciliations		Target levels reflected in rates: Gas average net plant target excluding AMI: Yr. 1 - $8,123 million; Yr. 2 - $8,861 million; Yr. 3 - $9,600 million AMI: Yr. 1 - $142 million; Yr. 2 - $183 million; Yr. 3 - $211 million (g)
Average rate base		Yr. 1 - $7,171 million Yr. 2 - $7,911 million Yr. 3 - $8,622 million
Weighted average cost of capital (after-tax)		6.61 percent
Authorized return on common equity		8.80 percent
Earnings sharing		Most earnings above an annual earnings threshold of 9.3 percent are to be applied to reduce regulatory assets for environmental remediation and other costs accumulated in the rate year.
Cost of long-term debt		4.63 percent
Common equity ratio		48 percent

(a)

At the NYSPSC’s option, the gas base rate increases shown above may be implemented with increases of $47 million in Yr. 1; $176 million in Yr. 2; and $170 million in Yr. 3. Base rates reflect recovery by the company of certain costs of its energy efficiency program (Yr. 1 - $30 million; Yr. 2 - $37 million; and Yr. 3 - $40 million) over a ten-year period, including the overall pre-tax rate of return on such costs.

(b)

Amounts reflect amortization of the remaining 2018 TCJA tax savings allocable to CECONY’s gas customers ($63 million) over a two year period ($32 annually), the protected portion of the regulatory liability for excess deferred income taxes allocable to CECONY’s gas customers ($725 million) over the remaining lives of the related assets ($14 million in Yr. 1, $14 million in Yr. 2, and $12 million in Yr. 3) and the unprotected portion of the net regulatory liability ($107 million) over five years ($21 million annually)


(c)-(g)	See footnotes (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) to the table under “CECONY Electric,” above.

O&R New York – Electric and Gas

In March 2019, the NYSPSC approved the November 2018 Joint Proposal for new electric and gas rates. The Joint Proposal provides for electric rate increases of $13.4 million, $8.0 million and $5.8 million, effective January 1, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. The Joint Proposal provides for a gas rate decrease of $7.5 million, effective January 1, 2019, and gas rate increases of $3.6 million and $0.7 million, effective January 1, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Rockland Electric Company (RECO)

In October 2019, the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel staff submitted testimony in the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities proceeding in which RECO requested an electric rate increase, effective February 2020. The Division of Rate Counsel staff testimony supports an electric rate increase of $5.8 million reflecting, among other things, an 8.9 percent return on common equity and a common equity ratio of 47.14 percent. In October 2019, RECO filed an update to the request it filed in May 2019. The company increased its requested February 2020 rate increase from $19.9 million to $20.3 million. The updated filing reflects an increase to the common equity ratio from 49.93 percent to 50.16 percent and a decrease in the return on common equity from 10.00 percent to 9.60 percent.

Other Regulatory Matters

In August and November 2017, the NYSPSC issued orders in its proceeding investigating an April 21, 2017 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) subway power outage. The orders indicated that the investigation determined that the outage was caused by a failure of CECONY’s electricity supply to a subway station, which led to a loss of the subway signals, and that one of the secondary services to the MTA facility had been improperly rerouted and was not properly documented by the company. The orders also indicated that the loss of power to the subway station affected multiple subway lines and caused widespread delays across the subway system. Pursuant to the orders, the company was required to take certain actions, including inspecting, repairing and installing certain electrical equipment that serves the subway system, analyzing power supply and power quality events affecting the MTA’s signaling services, and filing monthly reports with the NYSPSC on all of the company's activities related to the subway system. The company completed the required actions in 2018. The company’s costs related to this matter in excess of those reflected in its current electric rate plan were deferred as a regulatory asset and are addressed in the October 2019 Joint Proposal (see footnote (b) to the CECONY - Electric table under “Rate Plans,” above).

In August 2018, the NYSPSC ordered CECONY to begin on January 1, 2019 to credit the company's electric and gas customers, and to begin on October 1, 2018 to credit its steam customers, with the net benefits of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) as measured based on amounts reflected in its rate plans prior to the enactment of the TCJA in December 2017. The net benefits include the revenue requirement impact of the reduction in the corporate federal income tax rate to 21 percent, the elimination for utilities of bonus depreciation and the amortization of excess deferred federal income taxes. CECONY estimates that its credit of net benefits of the TCJA to its electric, gas and steam customers in 2019 will amount to $259 million, $113 million and $25 million, respectively. CECONY’s net benefits prior to January 1, 2019 and its net regulatory liability for future income taxes, including both the protected and unprotected portions, allocable to the company’s electric and gas customers are addressed in the October 2019 Joint Proposal (see footnote (b) to the CECONY - Electric and Gas tables under “Rate Plans,” above). CECONY’s net benefits prior to October 1, 2018 allocable to the company’s steam customers ($15 million) are being amortized over a three-year period. CECONY’s net regulatory liability for future income taxes, including both the protected and unprotected portions, allocable to the company’s steam customers ($185 million) is being amortized over the remaining lives of the related assets (with the amortization period for the unprotected portion subject to review in its next steam rate proceeding).

In January 2018, the NYSPSC issued an order initiating a focused operations audit of the income tax accounting of certain utilities, including CECONY and O&R. The Utilities are unable to estimate the amount or range of their possible loss related to this matter. At September 30, 2019, the Utilities had not accrued a liability related to this matter.

In March 2018, Winter Storms Riley and Quinn caused damage to the Utilities’ electric distribution systems and interrupted service to approximately 209,000 CECONY customers, 93,000 O&R customers and 44,000 RECO customers. At September 30, 2019, CECONY's costs related to March 2018 storms, including Riley and Quinn, amounted to $134 million, including operation and maintenance expenses reflected in its electric rate plan ($15 million), operation and maintenance expenses charged against a storm reserve pursuant to its electric rate plan

($84 million), capital expenditures ($29 million) and removal costs ($6 million). At September 30, 2019, O&R and RECO costs related to 2018 storms amounted to $43 million and $17 million, respectively, most of which were deferred as regulatory assets pursuant to their electric rate plans. In January 2019, O&R began recovering its deferred storm costs over a six year period in accordance with its New York electric rate plan. The NYSPSC investigated the preparation and response to the storms by CECONY, O&R, and other New York electric utilities, including all aspects of their emergency response plans. In April 2019, following the issuance of a NYSPSC staff report on the investigation, the NYSPSC ordered the utilities to show cause why the NYSPSC should not commence a penalty action against them for violating their emergency response plans. The Utilities are unable to estimate the amount or range of their possible loss related to this matter. At September 30, 2019, the Utilities had not accrued a liability related to this matter.

In May 2018, FERC denied a complaint the NJBPU filed with FERC seeking the re-allocation to CECONY of certain PJM Interconnection LLC (PJM) transmission costs that had been allocated to the company prior to April 2017 when transmission service provided to the company pursuant to the PJM open access transmission tariff terminated. The transmission service terminated because the company did not exercise its option to continue the service following a series of requests PJM had submitted to FERC that substantially increased the charges for the transmission service. CECONY challenged each of these requests. FERC rejected all but one of CECONY’s protests. In June 2015 and May 2016, CECONY filed appeals of certain FERC decisions with the U.S. Court of Appeals. In July 2018, FERC established a settlement proceeding relating to the allocation of PJM transmission costs. Under CECONY’s electric rate plan, unless and until changed by the NYSPSC, the company will recover all charges incurred associated with the transmission service.

In July 2018, the NYSPSC commenced an investigation into the rupture of a CECONY steam main (see Note H).

In March 2019, the NYSPSC ordered CECONY to show cause why the NYSPSC should not commence a penalty action and prudence proceeding against CECONY for alleged violations of gas operator qualification, performance, and inspection requirements. The company is seeking to resolve this matter through settlement negotiations with the NYSPSC staff. Any settlement would be subject to NYSPSC approval. The company is unable to estimate the amount or range of its possible loss related to this matter. At September 30, 2019, the company had not accrued a liability related to this matter.

On July 13, 2019, electric service was interrupted to approximately 72,000 CECONY customers on the west side of Manhattan. The NYSPSC and the Northeast Power Coordinating Council, a regional reliability entity, are investigating the July 13, 2019 power outage. The NYSPSC is also investigating other CECONY power outages that occurred in July 2019. Pursuant to the reliability performance provisions of its electric rate plan, as a result of the July 13, 2019 power outage, the company is subject to a $5 million negative revenue adjustment (which it recognized in the third quarter of 2019). The company is unable to estimate the amount or range of its possible additional loss related to the power outages. At September 30, 2019, the company had accrued a $5 million liability related to the power outages.

Regulatory Assets and Liabilities

Regulatory assets and liabilities at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 were comprised of the following items:



	Con Edison		CECONY
(Millions of Dollars)	2019	2018	2019	2018
Regulatory assets
Unrecognized pension and other postretirement costs	$1,919	$2,238	$1,816	$2,111
Environmental remediation costs	774	810	685	716
Revenue taxes	315	291	302	278
MTA power reliability deferral	245	229	245	229
Property tax reconciliation	160	101	150	86
Deferred derivative losses	99	17	90	11
Municipal infrastructure support costs	80	67	80	67
Pension and other postretirement benefits deferrals	77	73	55	56
Deferred storm costs	69	76	—	—
System peak reduction and energy efficiency programs	60	72	59	70
Meadowlands heater odorization project	35	36	35	36
Brooklyn Queens demand management program	35	39	35	39
Unamortized loss on reacquired debt	30	36	28	34
Preferred stock redemption	22	23	22	23
Recoverable REV demonstration project costs	21	20	18	18
Gate station upgrade project	19	17	19	17
Workers’ compensation	5	5	5	5
O&R transition bond charges	—	2	—	—
Other	194	142	187	127
Regulatory assets – noncurrent	4,159	4,294	3,831	3,923
Deferred derivative losses	68	36	57	29
Recoverable energy costs	15	40	12	35
Regulatory assets – current	83	76	69	64
Total Regulatory Assets	$4,242	$4,370	$3,900	$3,987
Regulatory liabilities
Future income tax	$2,448	$2,515	$2,302	$2,363
Allowance for cost of removal less salvage	952	928	808	790
TCJA net benefits*	462	434	444	411
Net unbilled revenue deferrals	145	117	145	117
Energy efficiency portfolio standard unencumbered funds	123	127	119	122
Pension and other postretirement benefit deferrals	67	62	41	40
Property tax refunds	45	45	45	45
Net proceeds from sale of property	44	6	44	6
System benefit charge carrying charge	43	27	38	24
Earnings sharing - electric, gas and steam	26	36	19	27
BQDM and REV Demo reconciliations	25	18	24	18
Settlement of prudence proceeding	15	37	15	37
Settlement of gas proceedings	11	15	11	15
Unrecognized other postretirement costs	5	7	—	7
Carrying charges on repair allowance and bonus depreciation	4	21	4	21
New York State income tax rate change	3	17	3	17
Base rate change deferrals	1	10	1	10
Property tax reconciliation	—	36	—	36
Other	171	183	137	152
Regulatory liabilities – noncurrent	4,590	4,641	4,200	4,258
Refundable energy costs	36	31	8	8
Deferred derivative gains	33	30	32	29
Revenue decoupling mechanism	24	53	16	36
Regulatory liabilities – current	93	114	56	73
Total Regulatory Liabilities	$4,683	$4,755	$4,256	$4,331

* See "Other Regulatory Matters," above.