Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) released its 2022 earnings report late Thursday night, showing that it earned $1.66 billion in net income ($4.68/share), about $300 million, or 23%, more than in 2021.
The increase was slightly more than that of 2021, which saw earnings increase by about 22%. (See Con Edison 2021 Earnings Jump 22%.)
Earnings for the fourth quarter, however, were down about 15% from the same period in 2021: $190 million ($0.53/share), compared to $355 million ($1/share).
ConEd corporate structure | ConEd
CEO Timothy Cawley said in a statement that “the great work of our employees and our customers’ desire for a clean energy future enabled us to make tremendous progress in 2022 in energy efficiency, new [electric vehicle] charger installations and customer solar projects.”
The New York-based utility, which services parts of New Jersey via Orange & Rockland Utilities, sold its Clean Energy Businesses (CEB) portfolio of 3,300 MW in renewable energy projects to RWE Renewables America in 2022. The deal is valued at $6.8 billion and anticipated to close near the end of the first quarter. (See Con Edison to Sell Clean Energy Businesses for $6.8B.)
ConEd return performance | ConEdAccording to its earnings report, Con Ed spent months considering “strategic alternatives” for the CEB but concluded that the transaction would allow it to “focus on our core utility businesses and the investments needed to lead New York’s ambitious clean energy transition,” Cawley said in a statement in October.
Con Ed intends using funds from the CEB sale to repay $1.25 billion of parent company debt in 2023, repurchase up to $1 billion of its common shares, forego common equity issuances in 2023 and 2024, and issue up to $900 million of common equity in 2025.
The company also issued $366 billion as part of the COVID-19 arrears assistance program, which the New York Public Service Commission created to help reduce the arrears balances of residential and small commercial customers struggling after the pandemic. Phase 2 of the program started in January, and Con Ed approximates that $392 million credit is eligible for the program.
Con Ed also announced on Wednesday that its customers installed a record 9,600 solar projects last year, which have the capacity to produce 89 MW.
The company expects 2023 adjusted earnings per share to be between $4.75 to $4.95 because of the anticipated CEB sale. It forecasts an average annual increase in peak demand over the next five years for electricity and gas to be approximately 0.6% and 1%, respectively.
Con Ed also plans to issue approximately $2.6 billion in long-term debt, including for maturing securities, during 2024 and 2025.