Consolidated Edison
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Consolidated Edison, Inc. NYSE: [ED]
Company History
In 1823, Con Edison's earliest corporate entity, the New York Gas Light Company, was founded by a consortium of New York City investors. In 1884, six gas companies combined into the Consolidated Gas Company.The New York Steam Company began providing service in lower Manhattan in 1882. Today, Con Edison operates the largest commercial steam system in the world, providing steam service to nearly 2,000 customers and serving more than 100,000 commercial and residential establishments in Manhattan from the Battery to 96th Street. [link]
Con Edison's electric business also dates back to 1882, when Thomas Edison's Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York began supplying electricity to 59 customers in a one-square-mile area in lower Manhattan. After the "War of Currents", there were more than 30 companies generating and distributing electricity in New York City and Westchester County. But by 1920 there were far fewer, and the New York Edison Company (then part of Consolidated Gas) was clearly the leader.
In 1936, with electric sales far outstripping gas sales, the company incorporated and the name was changed to Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. The years that followed brought further amalgamations as Consolidated Edison acquired or merged with more than a dozen companies between 1936 and 1960. Con Edison today is the result of acquisitions, dissolutions and mergers of more than 170 individual electric, gas and steam companies.
From 1940 to 1956, Con Edison was the main target of George Metesky, the "Mad Bomber" who planted around thirty bombs in New York City. Metesky blamed his tuberculosis on his work history with Edison, but was denied a disability pension.
A former Con Edison building on 48th Street in Manhattan was converted first into the studio for the television game show Let's Make A Deal, and later into a recording studio called "The Power Station" because of its Edison history. In 1996, the studio was renamed Avatar Studios.
On January 1, 1998, following the deregulation of the utility industry in New York state, a holding company, Consolidated Edison, Inc., was formed. It is one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $10 billion in annual revenues and $25 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through two regulated utility subsidiaries and three competitive energy businesses. Con Edison, under a number of different corporate names, remains the longest continuously traded stock on the New York Stock Exchange.
New York City's electric utility company continued to supply direct current to customers who had adopted it early in the twentieth century, mainly for older elevators. In January, 2005, Consolidated Edison announced that it would cut off DC service to its remaining 1600 customers (all in Manhattan) by the end of the year.
Its largest subsidiary, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York, an area of 660 square miles with a population of nearly 9 million.
Corporate Leadership
- Kevin Burke, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
- Joan S. Freilich, Vice Chairman
- Stephen B. Bram, Group President, Energy and Communications
- Robert N. Hoglund, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
- Charles E. McTiernan, Jr., General Counsel
- Saddie L. Smith, Secretary
- Edward J. Rasmussen, Vice President, Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer
- Joseph P. Oates, Vice President and Treasurer
External link
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