What happened with ED today?
No read yet
Uses news and trading volume to explain the day’s move and how it relates to the market.
Stop guessing. Get the call, a three-month target price, the best and worst cases, and a source for every claim.
Consolidated Edison’s largest business is CECONY, which supplies electricity to most of New York City and Westchester County, delivers gas in parts of that territory, and produces and delivers steam in parts of Manhattan. Electricity accounts for most revenue. Its smaller utility, Orange and Rockland Utilities (O&R), delivers electricity in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey, and gas in southeastern New York. Households, businesses and other customers pay these utilities for service.
Customers can buy electricity or gas from the utilities or choose another supplier, but still pay the utilities to deliver it through their networks. When the utilities buy energy for resale, they generally recover its cost without earning a profit on the energy itself. Their earnings instead come from regulated delivery charges, which are designed to cover service costs and provide an approved return on capital invested in the networks.
State regulators limit the rates the utilities may charge and can deny recovery of costs they consider imprudent. Earnings therefore depend on approved rate plans and operating within their provisions, not simply on selling more energy. CECONY’s electricity and gas delivery revenues are generally protected from changes in delivery volumes relative to those assumed in its approved rates.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Exelon is a close comparison for Con Edison: both principally charge customers to deliver electricity and gas through regulated networks, rather than earn from competitive power generation. Watch Exelon's delivery businesses and rate approvals, not electricity generation margins.
Public Service Enterprise Group gives Con Edison holders a nearby comparison for New Jersey regulation: its PSE&G utility and Con Edison's utilities charge customers for electric and gas service through regulated networks. Watch PSE&G's New Jersey rate decisions rather than the group's nuclear-generation results.
Ameren's electricity delivery, gas distribution and transmission businesses offer a close comparison for Con Edison's regulated networks: both collect customer charges under regulated rates. Its Illinois electric-distribution and natural-gas segments and its transmission segment are the clearest businesses to compare.
WEC Energy Group and Con Edison both earn utility income from infrastructure that supplies electricity and gas to paying customers, making regulated investment a shared concern. WEC's electricity delivery to Michigan Upper Peninsula customers who buy power elsewhere is a useful comparison with Con Edison's delivery-only service.
CMS Energy and Con Edison primarily earn from electric and gas utility infrastructure serving households and businesses, so investment and regulated cost recovery matter to both. Watch CMS's Consumers utility, which supplies most of the group's income and revenue, rather than its independent power business.
DTE Energy and Con Edison both operate electric and gas networks whose customer rates support cost recovery and approved investment returns. DTE Electric's Michigan rate decisions are the useful comparison: its approved electricity rates have historically been designed to cover costs plus an authorized return.
Duke Energy and Con Edison both earn regulated returns on electric and gas infrastructure paid for through customer rates, but Duke owns substantially more generation. Duke's Ohio business is the closer comparison: it earns retail margin on electricity transmission and delivery, not on the power it buys for customers.
NiSource and Con Edison both rely on customer rates to recover investment in gas and electric infrastructure and earn approved returns. NiSource's regulated utilities supply substantially all its revenue and earnings, making those utility results the relevant comparison.
Unitil Corporation resembles Con Edison in earning mainly from delivering electricity and gas to customers at regulated rates, rather than competitive margins on the energy itself. Its distribution revenue from households and commercial and industrial customers is the useful line to watch.
Xcel Energy and Con Edison both charge customers for service through regulated electric and gas networks that need continuing investment, though Xcel also owns substantial generation. Watch Xcel's transmission investment supporting reliable delivery and renewable generation, rather than treating all its power-generation results as comparable.
American Electric Power and Con Edison both collect revenue for moving electricity through regulated transmission and distribution networks, but AEP also combines substantial generation with customer delivery. Its Transmission and Distribution Utilities and AEP Transmission Holdco results are the closer comparison, rather than its generation and marketing business.
Southern Company shares Con Edison's electric and gas utility exposure, but its electric utilities generate power as well as deliver and sell it to customers, while Con Edison emphasizes delivery. Southern's gas-distribution business offers a cleaner comparison than electric results that combine power plants with networks.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
Fed rate decisions influence borrowing costs, and because Con Edison uses commercial paper and other debt to fund its substantial utility investment needs, higher rates can raise financing costs and reduce earnings.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
Higher-than-expected rates can make new borrowing and debt that resets its rate more expensive, raising financing costs for Con Edison and leaving less earnings after interest.
If it comes in below expectations
Lower-than-expected rates can make new borrowing and debt that resets its rate cheaper, easing Con Edison’s financing costs and leaving more earnings after interest.
Exelon Corporation earningsEXC
Exelon's report will show whether earnings and rate recovery in its regulated delivery businesses are keeping pace with network costs and investment, a close comparison for Con Edison.
Focus on Exelon's delivery-business earnings and rate recovery, not its generation results. If earnings keep pace with network costs and investment, a close regulated-network peer is still earning from delivery; if costs rise faster than earnings or recovery, that points to pressure on the shared business model. It is a useful comparison for Con Edison, not evidence of Con Edison's own results.
Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated earningsPEG
PSEG's report will show whether New Jersey rates let its PSE&G utility recover network costs and investment, offering a regulatory read-through for O&R's New Jersey service.
Read PSE&G's New Jersey rate decisions alongside its utility earnings. If rates allow timely recovery of approved costs and network investment, that suggests a supportive regulatory backdrop to compare with O&R's New Jersey service; if recovery is limited or delayed, it signals pressure for utilities in the state. The companies have separate rate proceedings, so PSE&G's outcome does not determine O&R's.
Consolidated Edison, Inc. earningsThis company
Con Edison's report will show whether its CECONY and O&R utilities turn regulated delivery revenue into earnings while recovering the costs of running their networks.
Read CECONY's and O&R's operating income alongside revenue from electric, gas and steam delivery. Much of the energy cost billed to full-service customers is passed through, so higher total revenue alone does not show stronger utility earnings. If delivery earnings rise as approved rates recover network costs, the utilities are getting more from providing service and investing in their networks; if costs rise faster and operating income weakens, recovery is lagging. Delivery volumes alone can mislead because some rate plans disconnect revenue from usage.
