Press Release

Consolidated Edison, Inc. Subsidiary Organizes a Back-up Power Supply for New York

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 22, 2001-- Under its Facility Flexx Program, ConEdison Solutions(R) has contracted with building operators in New York City and Westchester, including 55 Water Street, to create a "virtual" 25-megawatt power plant that can be switched on when electricity supplies are tight.

Twenty-five MW is enough generation to meet the electricity needs of 25,000 homes.

Under the program, ConEdison Solutions compensates building management to either transfer electric load to their back-up generators or invoke measures that provide for major curtailment of energy usage, which reduces the amount of electricity that has to be produced from conventional generators. Rules established by the New York Independent System Operator (ISO) enable ConEdison Solutions to compensate the building owners for this capability, known as Installed Capacity, and provide the ISO with additional resources that can help improve the reliability of the electric system.

55 Water Street, one of the largest commercial office buildings in New York, uses several of its back-up generators to supply the electricity of the building's common spaces rather than drawing power from the electric grid that serves New York.

"This is an excellent use of the buildings' assets," said Bill Costello, ConEdison Solutions energy portfolio manager. "These building managers have the ability to help make the summer go a little smoother for everyone, and benefit from an otherwise unused asset. With their help, we have created a back-up power source for the city."

With a tenant mix that is primarily in the financial services business, 55 Water Street uses emergency generators to ensure that its tenants have an extremely reliable source of electricity to operate their computer systems.

"Our backup generators are operated weekly and by participating in the ConEdison Solutions ICAP program, we are putting this resource to work for ourselves and others," said Frank Magnani, vice president of The New Water Street Corporation, the building owner/manager. "If everybody does a little bit, maybe we won't be facing the kind of problems they are having in California."

In addition to real estate companies like 55 Water Street, many other industry segments such as financial services, hospitals and technology companies require a steady power supply and typically have backup generators that could be used in this program.

ConEdison Solutions, a subsidiary and registered trademark of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED), is one of the leading energy services providers in the northeastern United States. In addition to providing optimized energy management products and services in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, the company provides electricity and/or natural gas to customers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. More information can be obtained by calling 1 (888) 210-8899, or visiting the ConEdison Solutions Web site at www.ConEdSolutions.com. You can also visit the Consolidated Edison, Inc. website at www.conedison.com for information on all of the Consolidated Edison companies.