Customer & Community

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

Con Edison works closely with local communities to keep them informed, address their concerns, and convey our company’s mission. We inform local community groups—including business improvement districts, chambers of commerce, and local development corporations—about major capital projects, new initiatives such as smart meters, energy efficiency programs, and how to do business with Con Edison. We coordinate among our operating departments to respond to inquiries about topics such as construction noise, outages and service restoration. We maintain close working relationships with local stakeholders so Con Edison remains aware of changes and new developments in the communities we serve. These relationships are also critical to our coordination during emergencies and they help us collaborate on new initiatives.

Policy & Regulatory Impact

Con Edison and O&R support New York State’s clean energy policies and goals, including plans to reduce GHG emissions 85% from 1990 levels by 2050, provide customers with 70% of their energy from renewable resources by 2030, and increase energy efficiency. New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) also requires a zero emissions “electric demand system” by 2040.

We work in partnership with our customers, policymakers, various third parties, and other energy companies to seek innovative ways to hasten and realize the clean energy future. This includes exploring new ways to advance clean energy technologies through adoption of distributed energy resources, such as energy storage and solar connected to the distribution system. Con Edison and O&R have programs to reduce fossil fuel usage and provide incentives for customers to install electric-powered heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers, while phasing out incentives for converting customer heating systems to natural gas. We are also developing a solar program for low-income customers and are advocating at the state level for the ability to own large-scale renewable generation. All of this is in addition to installing smart meters throughout our service areas and piloting new rate designs that will help customers manage their energy usage and bills.

We are active in regulatory proceedings, including those which seek to expand energy efficiency, develop offshore wind, establish transmission policy to advance clean energy objectives, provide customers with high efficiency electric heating options, amend regulatory structures to achieve CLCPA targets, and grow the electric vehicles sector. We work with regulators, customers, and other stakeholders to develop solutions that will promote a clean energy future in a cost-effective way for all New Yorkers. We also regularly engage with stakeholders on various regulatory and clean energy topics to keep an open dialogue. We also serve these goals by being an active participant in the legislative process at all levels of government. Con Edison has joined other companies in the utility industry in litigation to defend strong state auto emission standards and flexible greenhouse gas emissions strategies.

Shareholders

We are the longest, continuously listed company on the New York Stock Exchange and have increased dividends to shareholders for 47 consecutive years.

For more information, refer to our Shareholder Services page.

Footnote: In January 2021, the Board declared a quarterly dividend of 77.5 cents a share on its common stock — an annualized increase of 4 cents over the previous annualized dividend of $3.06 a share

Stakeholder Engagement

Overview

Recognizing that regular communication with our stockholders enables the Company to better understand their viewpoints and to obtain feedback regarding issues that are of interest to them, the Company continued to proactively engage virtually with stockholders due to COVID-19. The Company values stockholder input and is committed to taking such input into consideration in making executive compensation and governance decisions.

The chart below represents certain actions that the Company takes before, during and after the annual meeting.

2020 Stockholder Engagement Highlights

During 2020, the Company held its inaugural ESG webinar, participated in 22 stockholder conferences and 12 virtual roadshows targeting the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Canada, engaging with a broad range of stockholders, including index funds, union and public pension funds, actively managed funds, and stockholder advisory firms.

During 2020, the Company engaged with stockholders holding in aggregate 43% of shares outstanding and 30% of the Company’s debentures.

Key topics of shareholder engagement included CECONY’s Climate Change Vulnerability Study, the Company’s corporate strategy, diversity and inclusion, disclosure practices, corporate governance, executive compensation, political spending and lobbying practices, operational and financial issues, and ESG standardized reporting.

In response to stockholder feedback received during 2020, the Company:

(i) Enhanced disclosures concerning political contributions and lobbying, resulting in an increase in the Company’s CPA-Zicklin Index for Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability score to 94.3 from 90;

(ii) Added new standardized ESG reporting formats: Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”), and the Carbon Disclosure Project (“CDP”);

(iii) Added a new operating objective performance measure — Diversity and Inclusion Work Plan — to its long-term incentive plan for 2021; and

(iv) Further refined the disclosures in its proxy to, among other things, provide clearer and more accessible information on Board diversity, tenure, skills, and experience.

In addition, the Company’s Lead Director, the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, the Presidents of each of the Company’s subsidiaries, and other senior Company officers participate in meetings with stockholders during the year.

Throughout the year, the Company communicates stockholder feedback to the Board and its committees, and the Board considers this feedback in making its decisions

Strategic Partnerships

We are proud to support hundreds of nonprofit organizations in New York City and Westchester, Orange and Rockland Counties as part of our commitment to building strong communities and a clean energy future. The global pandemic has made our work as important as ever. Our partnerships strengthen the areas we serve through company initiatives, employee volunteer efforts and financial contributions. Here, we highlight four of the many organizations we support:

Westchester Parks Foundation

For more than 40 years, Westchester Parks Foundation (WPF) has encouraged the public to advocate for the use, preservation and conservation of the 18,000 acres of parks, trails and open spaces in Westchester County’s parks system.

Con Edison has supported WPF educational and recreational programs for almost 20 years. The programs include trail awareness, mobile trail map app development and environmental stewardship. Despite the pandemic, WPF parks and open spaces welcomed newcomers by the thousands in 2020.

The 47th annual Bicycle Sundays Program, which closes a portion of the Bronx River Parkway for cyclists, had been scheduled for twelve Sundays in 2020. But the program proved so successful during the pandemic that additional Sundays were added. More than 100,000 participants, craving an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, experienced traffic-free access to the Bronx River Parkway and recognized the intrinsic value of preserving and promoting access to our natural resources.

The Campaign Against Hunger

The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) is a nonprofit that works vigorously to fight hunger and improve the health of New York City residents. TCAH operates the city’s largest emergency food pantry—clients have access to food and support services five days a week. But unlike a typical pantry, TCAH offers a supermarket-like experience: Those in need can select the foods they desire.

Con Edison has supported TCAH’s youth programs for almost a decade. The Green Teen Workforce Program provides paid development and training in agriculture and entrepreneurship for at-risk youths, ages 14–24. Young people are able to work in TCAH’s pantry and the thriving Saratoga Farm on the cusp of the Brownsville and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

TCAH, like food banks across America, experienced a precipitous rise in demand for services as an increasing number of New Yorkers required emergency food and services to meet the basic needs of their families. Since early 2020, TCAH has served almost 1 million meals to as many as 7,000 families a week. It is expected that more than 10,000 families will be served each week in 2021.

Brotherhood/Sister Sol

The Brotherhood/Sister Sol was established in 1994 to assist Black and Latino youth in economically distressed communities. Based in Harlem, Brotherhood/Sister Sol provides comprehensive support services to more than 1,600 young people each year in New York City.

Con Edison supports Brotherhood/Sister Sol’s environmental programs, which emphasize food empowerment, sustainable design and horticulture science. During the pandemic, the organization has continued to educate the next generation of environmentalists, providing in-person and virtual urban environmental education models for schools and other community-based organizations, while highlighting the need for food justice and environmental reform.

In response to COVID-19, Brotherhood/Sister Sol has further served the community by providing more than 100,000 meals, distributing more than 150 laptops, establishing mobile hotspots, providing tens of thousands of dollars in financial assistance to families and increasing access to mental healthcare.

The Mamakating Education and Environmental Center

Located in Sullivan County, the Mamakating Education and Environmental Center offers a unique, intergenerational learning experience for those dedicated to environmental education and stewardship. Visitors can enjoy art projects, puppets, sensory tables, experiments and a one-of-a kind 3D tree that children can climb into and explore. A new children’s room will include murals of wetlands, live exhibits and interactive activities.