Managing Our Business
As we further evaluate what the utility of the future means, we recognize that there are essential aspects of our business which will always remain fundamental to our success. We are committed to minimizing our impact to, and enhancing, the environment in which we work. We also recognize safety as a core value and strive to achieve an injury-free workplace. A focus on cost helps us to keep our customer costs low and we keep the customer and our other stakeholders front-of-mind when we address policy and regulatory matters. Finally, the company’s continuing commitment to ethical operations and our rigorous audit program ensure our business remains compliant with regulations, procedural requirements are correctly implemented, and we continue to drive improvement.
Environmental Performance
The company’s sustainability strategy is focused on two concepts regarding our environmental stewardship: mitigation and adaptation. From a mitigation standpoint, we strive to reduce our environmental footprint, making wise and effective use of natural resources. We also recognize that our climate is changing and that we must adapt our company to address the challenges of climate change and its impact on our business. We have identified five Key Sustainability Aspects related to our environmental performance and defined success in those areas as follows:
- Air Quality: Reduce direct and indirect emissions to improve air quality
- Water: Enhance the efficiency of our water use and seek opportunities to improve water quality
- Habitat and Biodiversity: Manage our environmental legacy and minimize our impact to natural ecosystems
- Resource Conservation: Focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling to minimize consumption
- Climate Change: Design our work in consideration of climate forecasts
The following sections outline our progress in these areas as well as the goals we look to achieve in the future as we strive to be a good environmental steward and corporate citizen.
Safety
Con Edison of New York
At Con Edison we are committed to safety, and we strive to achieve an injury-free workplace. We coordinate a robust safety program, communicate with our employees every day about the importance of identifying and mitigating hazards, and work to empower employees to take ownership of their own safety and that of their teammates. We also rely on our employees to identify ways that we can improve safety. These combined efforts resulted in another great year of safety performance, with Con Edison of New York achieving an OSHA rate of 1.25, and Orange and Rockland reducing their rate to 2.01. The safety of our contractors and members of the public are equally priorities for Con Edison. More about our efforts to keep contractors and the public safe are discussed in this report’s Contractor and Public safety sections.
Policy Management and Regulatory Impact
Con Edison operates in a highly regulated environment and is affected by regulatory and social policy adopted at the federal, state, and municipal level. Between the settlement of the company’s rate filing, activities related to the Moreland Commission on Utility Storm Preparation and Response, continuing implementation of the State’s Energy Highway initiative, contingency preparation for the prospective retirement of the Indian Point Energy Center, revisions to the State’s energy efficiency and renewable energy policies, changes to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program, and creation of the New York Green Bank, 2013 was a particularly active year.
The company is focused on policy management and regulatory impact as we advocate our business positions and coordinate consistent regulatory and policy communications to meet the needs of our customers and shareholders.
Governance and Business Ethics
At Con Edison we recognized the need for strong corporate values. Through the years, one of the most important lessons we have learned is that having a strong financial foundation and operational excellence are only part of what it takes to continue a company’s success. We firmly believe that doing business in an open, ethical, and fair manner creates business success that benefits all our stakeholders — our investors, our customers, and our employees.
Auditing and
ISO Certification
To ensure the effectiveness of financial systems and operational performance, our auditing department provides an independent, fair, and objective appraisal of our facilities, operations, systems, and programs. These audits are performed in accordance with priorities established by the General Auditor in consultation with the CEO and the Audit Committee of the Board. Additionally, we recognize that third-party verification of our efforts is also of value and so we have our EH&S management system ISO-14001 certified.
Cost Management
As part of our promise to provide our customers with safe, reliable service, we also recognize that every dollar that we invest has an impact on their bill each month. As a responsible corporate citizen and a publicly traded company, we need to invest in our system wisely, choosing which challenges to pursue, and following the most cost-effective options to overcome those challenges. Choosing the best cost-management strategies demonstrates that as a company we're getting the best return possible on the dollars we spend.