Press Release

Diverse Network and Commitment to Customer Care Anchor Unique Program and Services

In pursuit of its goal to become the premier provider of high bandwidth transport services for the New York metropolitan area, Con Edison Communications (CEC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED) today announced the introduction of its "Smart Alternative" program. The "Smart Alternative" program highlights a number of technological, operational, and business advantages that CEC provides to enterprise and carrier customers.

Con Edison Communication's "Smart Alternative" program provides a better solution for the high bandwidth transport requirements of enterprise and carrier customers. The "Smart Alternative" program meets the needs of each of these industries as it provides:

-- A smart alternative for network diversity. CEC runs its fiber routes through electric utility rights-of-way; other carriers including the incumbents run their network through Empire City Subway (ECS) conduits. CEC's unique network provides enterprise customers with a true option that increases network availability and minimizes business disruption.

-- A smart alternative for customer care. CEC's network and services are built with customer requirements in mind. CEC service delivery is as fast as 15 days for new customers in on-net buildings and 60 days for off-net buildings - far faster than those of incumbent carriers. Furthermore, CEC will shortly offer its enterprise customers web-based management tools for network performance monitoring, trouble ticketing, billing, and service provisioning.

-- A smart alternative to legacy services. CEC extends the traditional carrier product line by offering a full range of optical services including SONET, DWDM, and Ethernet. This flexibility provides enterprise customers with a full range of options to meet their business needs.

-- A smart alternative in network technology. CEC's fiber network consists of self-healing rings that span both the network core and local loop. This ring architecture provides enterprise and carrier customers with the highest possible reliability and availability along with nearly unlimited bandwidth and scale.

-- A smart alternative for the last mile. By the end of May `02, CEC will have 100 buildings on-net, with an average of 10 buildings added per month this year. With over 220 route miles of fiber in the NYC metro market, CEC has the ability to connect new buildings to its network in under 60 days. This is especially attractive for customers that need to provision service rapidly.

"Enterprise companies and carriers that succeed or fail by their networks should have the best technology and service that money can buy," states Peter Rust, president and CEO of Con Edison Communications. "The Smart Alternative program calls attention to CEC's distinct advantages in serving customer needs. Our diverse network backbone truly makes CEC a "smart alternative" to incumbent carriers in New York and we will continue to build upon our high bandwidth and customer care services"

About Con Edison Communications

Con Edison Communications, Inc. (CEC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. CEC, a carrier's carrier, offers a comprehensive range of value-added products and services designed to enhance the performance of its customers' networks. CEC provides managed data transport services, leased capacity services, and plans to offer in-building optical distribution to multiple classes of customers including long-distance carriers, competitive local exchange carriers and Internet, cable, wireless and video companies. CEC's NYC metro area network is expected to interconnect over 1,000 commercial buildings, POPs and Verizon Central Offices by the end of 2005. Additional information about CEC is available at http://www.electricfiber.com/.

About Consolidated Edison, Inc.

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $10 billion in annual revenues and $17 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through two regulated utility subsidiaries and four competitive energy and telecommunications businesses. For additional financial, operations and customer service information, visit the Consolidated Edison, Inc. web site at http://www.conedison.com./.

CONTACT:          Robert Jewels
                  Con Edison Communications
                  212.324.5030
                  PR@electricfiber.com
                  or
                  Adam Cormier
                  Weber Shandwick Worldwide
                  617.520.7238
                  acormier@webershandwick.com