Con Edison’s Sustainable Initiatives

Learn About Con Edison’s Commitment to the Environment

Con Edison has clear environmental, health, and safety management systems. From hosting forums where environmental leaders can exchange ideas and share strategies for dealing with evolving challenges, to providing support to environmental groups and educational organizations, to launching pilot projects with technologies that demonstrate environmental benefits, Con Edison is committed to the safety and health of the communities they serve.¹

1. Reducing Carbon Emissions

   In the U.S., approximately 29% of carbon emissions come from the electricity sector, and the majority are linked to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas²: a contributing factor to extreme weather.

   Con Edison is working hard to produce half of New York’s electricity using clean, renewable resources like solar and wind by 2030³, and they increasingly support customers who generate their own energy through solar. To date, Con Edison has helped reduce carbon emissions by 48% — the equivalent of removing more than 500,000 cars off New York roads each year.⁴

2. Electric Vehicles

   Since 2014, Con Edison has been part of the Fleet Electrification Initiative, a national commitment toward the use of electric vehicles. Under this initiative, 5% of Con Edison’s total annual vehicle funds are spent on plug-in EVs, charging stations, plug-in hybrids, battery-electric vehicles, and electric power units.

   Con Edison’s clean fleet is growing, adding up to thousands of vehicles running on biodiesel blends, hundreds running on compressed natural gas, as well as hundreds of hybrids, plug-in cars, and bucket trucks.⁴ Plus, Con Edison also supports customers who own EVs by letting them earn money-saving incentives when they charge their EVs during off-peak hours.⁵

3. Saving Water Resources

   Con Edison has several ongoing initiatives to lower their water use. In fact, two of their steam generating stations are reducing water consumption through efficiency improvement projects. In 2016 alone, Con Edison saved more than 38 million gallons of water, and they expect to see even greater results in the years to come.⁶

4. Habitat & Biodiversity

   Con Edison understands trees are an important part of New York City’s infrastructure because trees contribute to clean air and water, reduce electricity costs, build home equity, and also make parks and streets look more beautiful.⁷

   That’s why, when Con Edison works near trees to protect their electric infrastructure and prevent power outages, they only hire professional foresters specially trained in preserving tree health and who follow International Society of Arboriculture pruning guidelines.⁸

   Con Edison continuously inspects trees, and when needed, they are carefully trimmed to keep them at a safe distance from overhead power lines. If a tree is removed due to electric infrastructure repairs and upgrades, Con Edison always plants a replacement.⁹

Con Edison’s Committed to a More Sustainable Future, Are You?

Switching to solar with a company like Sunrun will help you reduce your carbon emissions in New York City, and can potentially save you thousands of dollars on electric bills during the next 25 years.¹⁰ Besides, with our BrightSave™ Monthly and BrightAdvantage™ plans with a home solar battery, you could start your solar journey for as little as $0 down.

With Sunrun, personalized solar quotes are always free — and we serve all Con Edison customers. But don't take our word for it, see what our customers are saying about us.