To Our Stakeholders:
During 2015, the hard work of our employees enabled us to meet the high standards of reliability that our customers expect. We power the lives and livelihoods of 10 million people across our region. We work with government, business, and strategic partners to keep our communities vibrant by providing customers with dependable energy service.
We are meeting the needs of a new generation of customers by providing cleaner sources of energy, such as solar and wind power. We are sustaining the growth of our business by reducing our carbon footprint, making smart use of natural resources, minimizing waste, engaging stakeholders, and remaining a vital part of the communities we serve. In the past year, we invested $10 million in nonprofit organizations, and our employees donated 8,400 hours of their time to participate in company-sponsored volunteer programs.
We continue to build out our gas-delivery system to meet the high demand for cost-effective and energy-efficient natural gas. With our help, more than 5,200 large buildings in New York City have been converted from oil to cleaner natural gas in the past four years. That’s equivalent to taking 1.2 million cars off the road. We’ve also installed more resilient cables, poles that can withstand winds up to 110 miles per hour, and flood-proof equipment that has helped us to avoid nearly 100,000 customer power outages in the past two years.
Customers are requesting more power options, including clean energy sources. We’ve focused on expanding our renewable energy portfolio. We’re the fifth-largest solar producer in North America. We expanded into the wind business in 2015 with projects in South Dakota and Nebraska, and Con Edison Solutions entered the residential rooftop solar business. We firmly believe our sustainable business model puts us on a solid and profitable path.
We are constantly aligning our business with an eye toward a new energy future. As a result, we created a subsidiary, Con Edison Transmission, to focus on new electric and gas transmission—an area where we see significant potential for growth. This new business will allow us to offer customers a wide range of cost-efficient energy supplies.
Bringing new benefits to customers is an essential part of our mission. Our new Digital Customer Experience will give customers more accurate, detailed information across multiple channels. In 2017, we will begin to install smart meters throughout New York City and Westchester County, starting on Staten Island. These digital meters will let customers monitor their energy use, giving them more choice, control, and convenience. Detailed usage information, coupled with high-bill alerts, will give customers all the information they need to make wiser energy decisions that benefit the environment.
As our Sustainability Report shows, we are determined to sustain our growth and maintain our status as an industry leader through innovation, operational excellence, and superior service to our customers while ensuring our future as a next-generation energy company.
—John McAvoy, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Consolidated Edison, Inc.
