Our Sustainability Strategy

Our Mission

Con Edison is dedicated to making a transformational impact in the energy landscape to positively enhance the lives of the people we serve and the environment that supports our infrastructure and operations. Our mission is to provide:

• safe, reliable, and efficient energy services to our customers in accordance with our vision of achieving a clean energy future and overall improvement in the quality of life of the communities we serve
• a workplace that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion and allows employees to realize their full potential
• a fair return to our investors

This mission guides us as we celebrate 200 years in business and look forward to future centuries of service with new challenges operating in a dense, urban service territory that is susceptible to climate change. Safety and reliability are of utmost importance to us and our customers. To operate our critical energy systems, we rely on our diverse workforce, which is reflective of the communities we serve.

Executing our mission enables us to continue to provide steady, predictable earnings, maintain balance sheet stability, and pay attractive dividends for our shareholders – in 2023, we raised our annualized dividend for the 49th consecutive year.

Our Approach to Sustainability

Our strategy stems from our mission to operate sustainably as we seek to address the growing global threat of climate change and meet the requests of our customers and the public to have increasing say over how their energy is produced and used.

We are taking a leadership role in the delivery of a clean energy future for our customers. We are facilitating that by investing in, building, and operating reliable, resilient, and innovative energy infrastructure, advancing electrification of heating and transportation where feasible, and aggressively transitioning away from fossil fuels to a net-zero economy by 2050.

As we implement these changes, we’re also mindful of the impact we’re having on natural resources to sustain environmental viability for future generations. In addition, we’re engaging in the many advocacy opportunities that are shaping the future of our industry, to ensure we can deliver a just product for all and enable the development and implementation of technologies needed to support our mission.

By leveraging the robust knowledge and skillset of our employees and supporting the voice of our customers, we believe we’ll be able to carry out our vision and continue to deliver service that our customers, employees, and all stakeholders are proud to support.

Sustainability Materiality

In 2016, we engaged BSR, a leading sustainability consulting firm, to assist us in developing our sustainability materiality assessment and determine our key sustainability priorities. In 2019, we worked with New York University to refresh that assessment and its resulting priorities. We will continue to look at these priorities while referencing the objectives of key frameworks like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to ensure alignment with global standards around topics such as affordable and clean energy, climate action, and life on land and below water. We intend to monitor the ever-evolving landscape and adapt our strategy accordingly.

Our sustainability priorities are integrated in all our plans such as our Climate Change Implementation Plan and our commodity long-range plans for our electric, gas, and steam businesses, which are designed to help us navigate today’s challenges while preparing for changes in the energy landscape.

Our long-range plans identify $72 billion in strategic investments to advance our clean energy, climate resilience, core service, and customer engagement priorities over the next 10 years. These plans include three representative pathways toward our net- zero carbon goals for our electric, gas and steam operations:

• Full electrification that relies on existing technology solutions
• Targeted electrification that balances existing technologies with innovations in low-to-zero carbon gaseous fuel technologies, and
• Hybrid consumption that benefits from existing electric, gas and steam infrastructure to deliver low-carbon energy.

The plans are available on our website at the following links: Long Range Plans | Con Edison

Clean Energy Future: Policy and Commitments

New York has long been a leader in progressive climate policies. In 2019, the State signed into law groundbreaking legislation called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which established aggressive new greenhouse gas emissions reductions aimed at achieving the broad goals of a zero-emissions electricity sector by 2040 and economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050. The CLCPA also requires that between 35% and 40% of the benefits of State spending on clean energy or efficiency programs flow to newly defined disadvantaged communities, and it mandates an air monitoring program in at least four such communities. These are among the most ambitious goals in the country and political leadership throughout the state remains strongly committed to realizing them.

Even within the context of these statewide goals, New York City, which accounts for 78% of Con Edison’s customer base, has one of the most ambitious plans for reducing emissions in the nation. Local Law 97 was included in the Climate Mobilization Act, passed by the City Council in April 2019 as part of the New York City Green New Deal. Local Law 97 requires most buildings over 25,000 square feet to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits by 2024 with stricter limits coming into effect in 2030.

Since the enactment of Local Law 97, New York City has through Local Law 154 banned the use of fossil fuels in new buildings of less than seven stories height beginning in 2024 and for new buildings seven stories and over beginning in 2027. These laws further the City’s goal of reducing the emissions produced by the largest buildings by 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.

Con Edison is well positioned to support the state and city’s aggressive goals operationally with new investments in our electric grid and by partnering with our customers to support their efficiency goals and infrastructure upgrades that may be required for transitions from natural gas towards electrification. 

Over the next two years, Con Edison will invest more than $300 million in new EV charging infrastructure and more than $1.5 billion in energy efficiency programs throughout our service territory.

By 2030, Con Edison expects to deliver electricity from 1,000 megawatts of battery storage to help support and balance increased levels of renewables on the grid. We expect to have electrified 150,000 buildings and our facilities are anticipated to be powered by 100% clean energy. We expect to make more than $3 billion in infrastructure investments supporting resiliency and transmission to move renewable electricity from where it is generated to where it is consumed.

Looking ahead to 2035, Con Edison is planning for 400,000 EV charging plugs and a fully electrified light-duty fleet of our own. We plan to deliver net zero electricity by 2040. And by 2050, our territory is expected to have more than 1 million EV chargers, supporting new personal electric vehicles, bus and delivery fleets, taxis and service vehicles. These are not just goals or aspirations; these plans have been developed with clear roadmaps designed to lead us to success. We remain focused on ensuring that New York and Con Edison continue to lead the clean energy transition in partnership with our colleagues in state and city government.

Our Approach to ESG

Like most companies, we’ve adopted the Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework to ensure our business models are well-rounded and consider all impacts that our decisions have not only on our operations, but also on our stakeholders and the environment. Our approach to responsible business includes identifying our key stakeholders and understanding the issues that are relevant to them, prioritizing those issues, and responding to the priorities in a consistent and transparent way.

Our commitment to environmental, social and governance matters provides the structure needed to support our sustainability strategy. You will see our commitment to ESG highlighted in this year’s Sustainability Report, which summarizes our efforts in each of these areas. Some crucial elements of our ESG strategy are summarized below.

Environment: Our Expanded Clean Energy Commitment

A major articulation of our ESG strategy is our Clean Energy Commitment. In 2021, we updated our Clean Energy Commitment to make it bolder and meet the current moment. Our commitment to the clean energy future is supported by five pillars, detailed below. Each pillar is comprised of various company initiatives. Our Clean Energy Commitment is our way forward. To meet the ambitious and necessary climate goals in New York State and New York City, urgency must underpin everything we do. Our work is expansive, from energy efficiency programs to the electrification of buildings and homes to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. We are working to ensure green energy can meet the needs of our diverse service territory in the timeframe required to impact the effects of climate change.

Our Clean Energy Commitment is available on our website at the following link: Our Clean Energy Commitment | Con Edison

Environment: Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation

Con Edison’s energy infrastructure is vulnerable to climate change, and the Company recognizes the global scientific consensus that these changes are accelerating. Accordingly, in December 2020, the Company released our Climate Change Implementation Plan, a follow-up to our 2019 Climate Change Vulnerability Study. The 36-month, science-based study, performed in conjunction with ICF International and Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, evaluated our present-day infrastructure serving New York City and Westchester County under a range of potential climate futures, which the New York Times referred to as “the gold standard” in the utility industry.

The plan reflects not only the experience of experts across Con Edison, but also the feedback, input, and experience of more than 50 stakeholders, including New York State Department of Public Service staff, municipal representatives, and environmental advocacy organizations.

The pathways detailed in the plan prepare for high-risk scenarios of potential climate change impacts. Implementing these plans would allow us to surpass the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. The plan addresses mitigation measures in response to company-specific, climate-driven risks:

• Sea level rise
• Coastal storm surge
• Inland flooding from intense rainfall
• Hurricane-strength winds, and
• Extreme heat

By 2030, we expect to invest more than $3 billion in infrastructure to make our systems more resilient against extreme weather and to build transmission to move renewable resources from where they are generated to where they are needed.

Con Edison is already using its climate change projections for decision-making in areas such as power supply forecasting. Starting in 2020, we began integrating climate considerations into our planning, engineering, operations, and emergency response practices to adapt to climate change. In addition, the company formed a new executive-level committee focused on climate risk and resilience.

While the Climate Change Implementation Plan provides a strong foundation for action, Con Edison will evolve its adaptation efforts over time based on new climate science and our customers’ needs. We will review our climate projections annually and update them at least every five years. We will provide regular public reporting on our progress through this annual Sustainability Report and other disclosures.

Social: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Con Edison is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining a talented, diverse workforce that reflects the great metropolitan area we serve. We value and support a wide range of employee needs and interests. The company’s skilled and experienced workforce enables the company to maintain best-in-class reliability and progress towards achieving a clean energy future. Human capital measures focus on employee safety, hiring the right talent, employee development and retention, and diversity and inclusion.

Con Edison strives to have a diverse and inclusive workforce. A comprehensive diversity and inclusion strategy underlies the corporate culture; informing how its employees engage with one another, and setting the foundation for a respectful and inclusive environment.

Our corporate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) strategy is built on four key elements – ongoing learning and competency building; inclusive and visible leadership support; reviewing our systems, policies, and procedures to eliminate potential barriers to inclusion; and celebrating and acknowledging the diversity of our workforce.

The Corporate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Action Plan is based on a two-pronged strategy: data-driven change and culture transformation. The 14-point plan is being implemented through the work of our Diversity & Inclusion Task Force. The focus of this cross-functional team of employees is to closely examine metrics to truly understand the representation of our workforce and identify areas of opportunity, as well as areas where we have made solid progress. It will also enable cultural transformation by challenging us to look at how we administer our systems, policies, and procedures—addressing any barriers that get in the way of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Our commitment to diversity and Human Rights also extends to our Supply Chain. Our effort in this area helps us to increase competition within our vendor base, create millions of dollars of opportunities for minority-owned and women-owned businesses, and contribute to the economic vitality of the communities we serve.

Our people will always be our greatest strength—and the incredible range of culture, experience, and perspective makes the company stronger.

Governance: Maintaining Sound Governance Practices

While the company prepares for the impacts of climate change, our broader efforts are focused on helping mitigate climate change. We have a governance structure and strategy in place to harness the skills and intellect of our employees consistent with sound, sustainable principles.

As disclosed in our Proxy Statement, the Company is firmly committed to sustainability, which is broadly overseen by the Board. The Board reviews and discusses various sustainability topics throughout the year and routinely reviews environmental issues, including climate change, and their impact on the Company’s operations, strategies, and risk profile.

In addition, the Board has delegated to the appropriate committees, responsibility for the specific sustainability categories relating to the oversight with which such committees are charged.

Committees not specifically tasked with oversight of sustainability also periodically review sustainability related matters. As part of its review of strategy and financial plans, the Finance Committee considers the financial sustainability of the Company.

To help guide and oversee our sustainability strategy, we have developed a governance structure that extends from our Board of Directors to the employee level. Our structure includes: