New York Electricity Prices are Fourth Highest in Nation

The latest monthly EIA report shows that New York had the nation's fourth most expensive electricity prices in January 2009, surpassed only by Hawaii, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Retail electricity prices are likely to decline as the effect of lower natural gas prices takes hold. The NYISO spot market design, however, affects all prices for all electricity, no matter how it is generated or what it costs to generate because prices are pegged to the price demanded by generators fueled by natural gas. According to EIA's most recent annual report for 2007, New York makes 46% of its electricity from hydro and nuclear resources which are far less expensive than natural gas. The structure of the NYISO wholesale spot markets, however, has the effect of paying for all energy as if it had been produced with the most expensive fuel, typically natural gas.

The New York PSC typical bill report for January, 2009 is not posted yet, but PULP's online electric bill estimator calculates that the typical January 2009 Con Edison bill was higher than January 2008.

PULP's historical chart of typical bills shows that the all time high record for a January Con Edison bill was in January 2006, a time when natural gas prices were spiking.