Consolidated Edison

On March 26, 1823, the New York legislature chartered the New York Gas Light Co. In November 1884 several gas companies agreed to merge into the Consolidated Gas Co. of New York. In 1936 the company took its current name and bought the New York Steam Co. system.⁠[1]

On January 1, 1998, Consolidated Edison, Inc. became the holding company for CECONY.⁠[2]

In July 1999 the company acquired Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R). At December 31, 1999, CECONY, O&R and the unregulated subsidiaries had 13,025, 1,061 and 183 employees, respectively.⁠[2]

On October 13, 1999, the company agreed to acquire Northeast Utilities (NU) for $3.8 billion. In March 2001 NU said Con Edison was in breach, treated the agreement as terminated and sued. Con Edison said the agreement “remains in effect” and sought a declaratory judgment.⁠[3]

On October 12, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously ruled that NU shareholders could not sue Con Edison over the $1.2 billion “lost premium” claim.⁠[4]

On September 6, 2001, the company completed the sale of its Indian Point 1 and 2 nuclear units in Westchester County, New York, to EntergyEntergyEntergy Corporation is an American integrated energy company headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, engaged mainly in power production and delivering electricity to about 3.1 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.Open the full entry. Entergy paid $502 million for the units, three gas turbines and other assets.⁠[5]

Kevin Burke served as president and CEO from 2005. On September 19, 2013, the board elected John McAvoy, who joined the company in 1980 and became president and CEO of O&R in 2012, as his successor, with Burke to serve as non-executive chairman after retiring.⁠[6]

McAvoy’s appointment as president and CEO took effect on December 26, 2013, the day after Burke retired as an employee.⁠[7]

On July 18, 2007, a steam pipe ruptured at Lexington Avenue and 41st Street near Grand Central Terminal, spraying asbestos-tainted debris over the area. A woman died of a heart attack after the blast, a man was burned over 80 percent of his body and dozens of others were injured.⁠[8]

On March 12, 2014, a gas explosion in East Harlem leveled two buildings, killing 8 and injuring 50. State regulators found in 2015 that the company had violated safety rules. In February 2017 the state announced a $153.3 million settlement, which does not resolve individual civil suits.⁠[9]

From 6:47 p.m. on July 13, 2019, until around midnight, large parts of Midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side lost power, affecting 72,000 customers. The company cited a “significant electrical transmission disturbance,” and Governor Andrew CuomoAndrew CuomoAndrew Cuomo is an American Democratic politician who served as the 56th Governor of New York from 2011 to 2021, having previously served as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1997–2001) and New York Attorney General. In August 2021, an independent investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office found that he had sexually harassed multiple women; he denied touching anyone inappropriately and then announced his resignation. In 2025 he ran for mayor of New York City, losing to Zohran Mamdani in both the Democratic primary and the general election.Open the full entry ordered an investigation.⁠[10]

In November 2020 the state proposed up to $25 million in penalties over the July 2019 outages, which the company could contest.⁠[11]

On November 19, 2020, the company announced that Timothy Cawley would succeed John McAvoy as president and CEO effective December 29, 2020, with McAvoy remaining chairman.⁠[12]

On November 18, 2021, the board elected Cawley chairman. He had previously been president of CECONY and president and CEO of O&R.⁠[13]

On March 1, 2023, the company completed the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, Inc. to RWE Renewables Americas, LLC in a transaction valued at $6.8 billion. Cawley said, “Con Edison’s focus is on New York.”⁠[14]

In 2025 the company had operating revenues of $16,918 million and net income for common stock of $2,023 million ($5.66 a share), compared with $15,256 million and $1,820 million in 2024. It said it had raised its dividend for the 52nd straight year.⁠[15]

The company owns CECONY, O&R and Con Edison Transmission. CECONY serves about 3.7 million electric, 1.1 million gas and 1,490 steam customers.⁠[16]

In 2025 the company had more than 14,000 employees, over half of them union members.⁠[17]

Cawley serves as chairman, president and CEO. The company describes its stock as “the longest continuously listed stock on the New York Stock Exchange.”⁠[18]

In the first half of 2026 the company recorded a $134 million after-tax gain on the sale of its Mountain Valley Pipeline equity interest and net income for common stock of $1,232 million. CECONY and Con Edison Transmission agreed to sell their Honeoye Storage interests for $5 million, subject to New York State Public Service Commission approval.⁠[19]