New York Commission Approves Three-Year Rate Plan for Orange and Rockland Utilities

The New York State Public Service Commission on March 20 approved a three-year rate plan for Orange and Rockland Utilities, substantially reducing the company’s rate increase request for both electric and natural gas. The revision, which will take effect on April 1, 2025, marks the first commission-approved rate change for the utility in three years. The last approved rate increase was in 2019 when the commission reduced the request by 80 percent.

The commission adopted a joint proposal supported by the company, staff, and the state’s Utility Intervention Unit. This proposal sets a structured revenue adjustment for electric rates over a three-year period, with no increase in the first year, followed by a $17.7 million increase in each of the second and third years. For gas, the plan includes a uniform annual revenue increase of $10.5 million in each of the three years.

In the original request, the utility sought an increase in annual electric delivery revenues of approximately $18.1 million for 2025, which would have raised monthly electricity bills by $8.81 for a customer with an average monthly electricity use of 600 megawatt-hours (MWh). The commission did not approve the rate increase for 2025, and hence the rates will remain the same for the first year. In the second and third years of the plan, the utility can raise revenues by $17.7 million per year.

For natural gas delivery, the company initially requested an annual revenue increase of $14.4 million for the rate year ending on Dec. 31, 2025, which would have resulted in a $12.73 increase in the monthly gas bill for a customer with a monthly gas consumption of 100 ccf. The commission reduced this request by 30 percent to $10.1 million for the first year.

Under the commission-approved plan, the utility also agreed to fund programs related to electrification, distributed energy sources, and large-scale renewable energy projects to advance New York’s climate and energy transition objectives.