8 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARСH 26, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Photo via Flickr/Con Edison
Con Edison halts on-site meter
reading amid coronavirus crisis
BY BENJAMIN MANDILE
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Con Edison announced Monday that it
will stop all meter readings and installation
of smart readers due to concerns of
the growing coronavirus pandemic.
Despite this change of service, the energy
company, which serves 3.5 million
customers locally, remains committed to
keeping New Yorkers safe with reliable
services.
“Nothing is more important than health
and safety,” said Tim Cawley, president of
Con Edison.
Workers of Con Edison will only enter
customer’s homes for emergencies, safety
related inspections, customer-requested
service connections and enhancements.
A Con Edison spokesperson said that
if a customer is in need of a new connection,
the energy company will be available
to address that and it is up to the customer
if they will allow workers onto the premises
to complete the work.
All Con Edison employees needing to
enter homes will carry proper identifi -
cation, according to the investor-owned
energy company that delivers natural gas,
electricity and steam to 3.5 million customers
in New York City and Westchester
County.
Th e company requests that customers
with appointments for service advise
workers if anyone on the premises is quarantined
due to the COVID-19 virus.
Con Edison has previously taken other
steps to keep customers and its employees
safe.
Th ese steps include stopping shutoff s of
electric, natural gas or steam service due
to non-payment related to the health crisis;
waiving new late-payment charges
and suspending the fee charged to customers
for being unable to grant access to
their property; temporarily shutting down
customer walk-in centers; and temporarily
stopping energy effi ciency service visits
to homes and businesses in NYC and
Westchester County.
Th e company will continue to shut off
service when a safety issue arises and
has said that residential customers can
pay their bill in “other convenient ways”
including paying online at coned.com,
by mail with a check or money order and
by phone at 888-925-5016. Fees associated
with making payments with credit
and debit cards are being waived as of
Monday night.
A spokesperson told QNS on March 24
that while the company is not sure how
many customers are unable to pay due
to the virus, they will not be terminating
service to anyone at this time due to
inability to pay in the wake of the coronavirus
crisis.
Administrative employees have been
instructed to work from home with about
6,500 employees out of 15,000 working
remotely. Field personnel conduct pre-job
briefi ngs in smaller groups and are dividing
workers into teams.
Information about Con Edison and its
decisions related to the novel COVID-19
virus can be found at www.coned.com/
en/about-us/media-center/news/coronavirus/
updates.
“While many of our work activities have
been put on hold, we are focusing on system
infrastructure work that ensures safety
and reliability,” said Cawley.
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