Con Edison Invests $1.3 Billion Toward Summer Energy Costs

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Con Edison said Tuesday it is investing $1.3 billion to meet added summer energy demand in New York City and Westchester County.

The upgrades include a lot of new equipment.

"Installing new storm doors, installing submersible equipment, putting on smart switches on our underground and overhead systems so that we can isolate outages and make them smaller than they ordinarily would be," Con Ed spokesman Michael Clendenin told 1010 WINS.

The company said it has enough power to meet expected demand this summer.

Con Edison also said it will spend an extra $230 million this year on storm-related projects.

"We're also spending about $230 million as part of a four-year plan that we started post-Sandy. We started a storm-hardening fortification plan for our entire electric, gas and steam system, to harden them against any major storm that roars through our area again," Clendenin said.

Underground electrical networks are being redesigned in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The improvements also include protective barriers around critical equipment.

Clendenin reminded customers to set their thermostats at 78 degrees to save electricity and money.

"We recommend that people set their thermostats on their air conditioners at moderate temperatures, often recommending 78 degrees. One rule of thumb people tend to follow is for every degree you go lower on your air conditioner, you're going to be raising your cooling costs by about 6 percent," he said.

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