New Issue Brief: How NYC Taxes Residents Through Their Electric Bills

NEW YORK, NY – Mayor Zohran Mamdani has pledged to take on New York City's affordability crisis, declaring last year that "politicians are not bystanders" to it. That's especially true of New Yorkers' electric bills, which City Hall itself has helped drive up. 

The typical Con Edison bill for a city apartment rose 48 percent between 2019 and 2025, greatly outpacing the national increase in part due to city taxes. In a new Manhattan Institute issue brief, fellow Ken Girardin finds that no major American city leans on its electric grid for revenue as heavily as New York does. The largest of the city taxes is a property tax the city charges Con Ed on its wires and other equipment, which Con Ed then passes on to customers without denoting the specific charge on their electric bills. 

Key findings include: 

• City policy adds an effective 36 to 43 percent tax to electricity delivery, through a property tax on Con Ed, a utility tax on its receipts, and a sales tax on customers' bills.
• Con Ed's city property tax bill on its electric facilities more than doubled between 2015 and 2025, from $1 billion to $2.1 billion. 
• City taxes cost a typical single-family household almost $47 a month, or $561 a year, and a typical apartment more than $22 a month. 
• New York City collects about 8 cents per kilowatt-hour through Con Ed, while Chicago and Washington, DC, collect about 1 cent through their utilities. 

Con Ed will begin itemizing the property tax on bills by early 2027, which Girardin hopes will spark a public conversation about how the city uses utilities to collect taxes. Girardin argues that in addition to increased bill transparency, Albany should exempt distribution equipment from the city property tax and require Con Ed to cut delivery rates accordingly. 

Click here to read the full issue brief.