Safety & Environment
Oil-to-Gas Conversions
In 2018 Con Edison converted 189 buildings from heavy heating oil to gas. Since the start of our conversion program in 2011, we have converted more than 4,400 large buildings burning heavy heating oil; we also converted more than 3,200 customers from No. 2 grade oil. The company’s program has kept more than 560 tons of fine particulate matter from the air, which is a significant impact on air quality within the New York City portion of our service territory. New York City has the cleanest air in five decades, largely as a result of these building conversions.
While adhering to best practices to achieve operational excellence, the Gas Marketing and New Business teams at O&R added 1,476 new customers in 2018. These additions included 131 conversions from oil/propane to cleaner natural gas. Among the factors spurring our growth were a gas conversion rebate program, entitlement changes, and a 15-year economic feasibility analysis, up from 10 years previously. In addition to gas expansion efforts, significant community growth is expected in southeastern Orange County that will contribute to substantial use of natural gas within the next five years.