New Yorkers have seen a significant increase in their energy bills over the past three years. Unfortunately, this trend is expected to continue as a result of a climate change bill supported by state Democrats.

Con Edison, a major utility company, has proposed a rate hike that could lead the average New York City resident to pay $158 more per month for gas and electricity compared to 2022. This information is based on data provided by the company.

The publicly owned utility company, which serves all five boroughs of New York City and Westchester County, is seeking approval from the Public Service Commission for significant double-digit rate increases.

If the regulator approves the proposal, the average electric bill will soar by 11.4 percent, while gas will be jacked up by 13.3 percent. The changes to the charging structure would go into effect on January 1, 2026.

Con Edison said it plans to use this additional revenue from ordinary citizens – an added $1.6 billion for electricity and $440 million for gas – to fund a variety of clean energy projects around the city.

These include a substation complex in eastern Queens near JFK airport to help lower emissions, a ‘clean energy hub in Brooklyn,’ an ‘electrification pilot for private, affordable multi-unit buildings,’ and infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Much of the money will also be used to upgrade the electrical grid in a bid to comply with New York’s ambitious Climate and Community Leaders Protection Act.

The law, passed in 2019 under former Governor Andrew Cuomo, requires the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and achieve net-zero electricity emissions by 2040.

Con Edison, which provides power to New York City and Westchester County, wants to hike the average electricity bill by 11.4 percent and the average gas bill by 13.3 percent

Con Edison cited New York’s ambitious Climate and Community Leaders Protection Act as a reason for needing the extra revenue. The law, signed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2019, puts heavy expectations on companies to reduce emissions

The real impact of this will be felt by New Yorkers, who will be paying for this transition to clean energy.

The average residential customer in New York City paid $356.51 per month to Con Edison at the beginning of 2022.

Of that, $157.97 went to electricity, assuming the resident used 600 kilowatt-hours per month, which is the norm for most New York residents according to the Energy Information Administration.

Another $198.54 went toward gas at an average usage of 100 therms per month, a number that could easily tick up in the cold winter months.

In just three years, the current monthly bill for that same resident, assuming they kept using roughly the same amount of energy, shot up 23 percent to $441.55.

The newest rate hikes from Con Edison would bring the cost to the average resident up to $514.57 per month, a 44 percent jump since 2022.

Over the course of a year, New Yorkers will pay nearly $1,900 more than they did in 2022. 

This comes as Governor Kathy Hochul is ramming through her own green energy proposals, including a $1 billion investment in climate change mitigation that was announced in mid-January.

In a statement provided to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul said she ‘strongly opposes’ anything raising the cost of living for citizens. Hochul is also urging regulators to ‘scrutinize’ Con Edison’s plan

Although Hochul supports increased spending on green energy initiatives, she is ‘strongly’ against raising the cost of living for New Yorkers.

‘The Governor strongly opposes any effort to increase the cost of living for New Yorkers and is directing the Department of Public Service to thoroughly scrutinize the request by Con Edison to raise utility bills,’ a spokesperson for the governor’s office told DailyMail.com.

Con Edison lays the blame for consistently rising energy prices at the feet of the city and state government.

Unlike the much of rest of the country, Con Edison can pass property taxes on utilities – pipes, wiring and other infrastructure – along to their customers in their bills thanks to a law written by city and state policymakers. 

And since New York City property taxes have ballooned from $500 million in 2000 to almost $2.5 billion in 2023, Con Edison argues that plays a ‘leading role’ in why utility bills are getting more expensive.

‘The plan estimates that increasing property taxes on energy infrastructure paid by customers account for nearly 27 percent of the proposed electric revenue increase and about 14.5 percent of the proposed gas revenue increase,’ Con Edison said in the statement about the rate hike plan. 

Con Edison estimates it will collect more than $3.2 billion in property taxes next year if their plan is approved. 

Even though the company appears to disagree with how the taxation system is structured, it said it wants to work with policymakers to direct this money back to bill relief for low-income customers and to ‘support clean energy programs.’

As possible rate hikes are just around the corner, hundreds of thousands of households are already behind on their power bills (Pictured: Con Edison employees work to fix a blackout in Queens)

The Public Utility Law Project (PULP), a ratepayer advocacy group, told the New York Post that it will push the Public Service Commission to cut down on Con Edison’s proposed rate increases.

‘Con Ed customers are already struggling to pay their bills,’ said Laurie Wheelock, the executive director of PULP.

Con Edison’s monthly collections report for December found that 496,007 residential households were behind on payments by 60 days or more – totaling $948 million.

Wheelock added that over 190,000 termination notices were sent to customers and more than 6,000 accounts were terminated.

Kamal Khondkar, 43, who owns a one-bedroom apartment with his wife in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, told the Post he’ll struggle to pay what Con Edison is asking for now.

‘More money going to Con Ed means less for everything else. How will we survive? They can do it and get away with it because they know you can’t do without,’ Khondkar said.  

The proposed rate hikes will go through a mandatory 11-month review process before they have a chance of being approved. 

A spokesperson for the Public Service Commission told the Post that ‘the approved rates after this process are nearly always lower than what is requested, due entirely to this time-tested stakeholder review process.’

The regulator slashed Con Edison’s gas and electric price increases by 60 percent in 2023 and 75 percent in 2020.