PowerReady EV Incentive Program

We know that uncertain access to EV charging is a leading barrier to our customers purchasing EVs. In order to help alleviate these concerns, in 2020 CECONY and O&R launched our PowerReady EV infrastructure incentive programs and in 2022 RECO launched our Charger Ready EV infrastructure incentive program. These programs expand access to EV charging for cars and small vans and trucks by supporting the development of widespread and visible charging stations at diverse locations across our service area such as charging hubs, retail locations, apartment buildings, and workplaces. CECONY, O&R and RECO have now supported the installation of nearly 7,000 charging plugs through PowerReady. In 2020, the Companies also launched pilot programs to incent charging infrastructure for the electrification of larger fleet vehicles such as school buses, transit buses, and delivery trucks.

The CECONY PowerReady program is now one of the country’s largest utility program providing incentives for EV infrastructure buildout. A significant program expansion in November 2023 more than doubled the size of the program budgets, with authorization of a total of $685 million of customer incentives with a goal to support the connection of about 26,000 EV charging plugs to the grid through 2025. The program expansion was a result of a growing need for charging infrastructure and successful execution by the Companies over the first phase of the program.

SmartCharge New York.Why an early EV adopter loves Con Edison’s managed charging program.

While EV charging incentives can assist the market development of adequate access to charging, CECONY’s and O&R’s managed charging programs help mitigate the impact of EV charging on the grid. CECONY and O&R have been offering the SmartCharge NY managed charging program since 2017 and 2022, respectively, providing financial rewards to participating drivers for all vehicle types in our service area when they charge outside of the peak demand periods on the grid, and overnight. This program is already one of the most successful managed charging programs in the world and continues to grow.

In November 2023 CECONY and O&R received authorization to launch a first-of-its-kind full-scale EV charger-based managed charging program for commercial customers, SmartCharge Commercial. This program, launching in early 2024, incents commercial charging station operators to reduce the electricity they use from the grid during peak hours, shifting that demand to off-peak hours and overnight. This incentive simultaneously achieves multiple goals: ingraining charging behavior that limits the impact of EV charging on the electric grid, while also providing operating cost support to station operators.

Additionally, CECONY’s curbside charging demonstration project with the New York City (NYC) Department of Transportation and FLO, a designer and operator of EV charging systems, continues to outperform expectations. Since the beginning of the project in the summer of 2021, 100 publicly accessible L2 chargers have been installed. Customers have plugged their EVs into the curbside charging stations more than 110,000 times, delivering more than 2,400 MWh of driving energy and achieving of roughly 960 metric tons of CO2 avoided compared with traditional gas-powered vehicles. Site-wide utilization for the charging plugs across all five NYC boroughs in Q3 of 2023 was at 48%, four times the initial target of 12%.

CECONY and O&R Fleet

In support of our Clean Energy Commitment, 100% of new light-duty vehicles purchased by CECONY and O&R are electrified vehicles. Through the retirement of existing fossil fuel vehicles, our goal is that 80% of our light-duty fleet will be electrified by 2030 and 100% by 2035. As of year-end 2023, 23.5% of CECONY’s light-duty fleet was electrified vehicles, and 24.4% of O&R’s light-duty fleet was electrified vehicles. We are also pursuing, through our Research and Development department, alternative technologies to reduce fossil fuels for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. During 2023, we began a pilot program to use our first all-electric bucket truck in day-to-day operations. In December 2023, we took delivery of our first fully electric Class 8 Tractor, which will be piloted in 2024.

We are expanding the current charging infrastructure to support the electrified vehicle initiative. Our plan includes the installation of higher output Level 2 and DC Fast Chargers for fleet vehicles and dedicated workplace chargers for employee’s personal vehicles. There are a total of 127 fleet charging ports at CECONY premises and 34 fleet charging ports at O&R. Additionally, we will continue to increase employee workplace chargers at CECONY and O&R facilities.

First All-Electric Bucket Truck.The first step in the transition to an all-electric fleet.