Patrick Robbins

We are not an elected commission state.

We are appointed by the governor and then confirmed by the Senate.

But I have to imagine that some of the political accountability

that is inherent in the process that you're describing probably makes a big difference.

I mean, people are really furious in New York about high electric bills.

I think that's true across the country.

And so I have to wonder if politically that is helping insulate the, you know, the rate payers in your area.

And Matt, I actually want to take a moment on that because that's a big difference in the kind of investment proposition that you're talking about between different parts of the grid.

So it's true that there are elements of the grid that are difficult to attract investment because of that uncertainty.

Distribution is not one of them.

because you're looking at some of the safest investments out there, second only to treasury bonds.

Con Edison here in New York is what is charmingly called a dividend aristocrat, which means that it has returned consistently higher returns every year for the last 25 years.

And so there's...

A lot of, I think, justifiable anger when the utility says, oh, we have to charge this exorbitant fees in order to attract investment.

It's like, well, something's not adding up because people are going to be interested in investing in Con Edison.

It's a recession proof investment.

You know, when you're looking for something really stable, whether you're talking about pension funds or whatever else, you know, they could be charging all of us way, way, way less than they are charging now, if that's if that's really the rationale.

And, you know, in 2025, when they were cutting off power to customers for.

non-payment, you know, they awarded their CEO nearly $20 million in compensation, according to the Energy Policy Institute.

So that kind of thing rubs people the wrong way, you know?