Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I'm Jan Childress, Director of Investor Relations for Consolidated Edison. We're happy to have you join us today to talk about our 2023 clean energy future. This presentation contains forward-looking statements of future expectations and not facts that are intended to qualify for the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to slide 2, shown here, for our full statement. Also, please note that there is an Ask a Question box right beneath the webcast player. Type in any question at any time, and just click the Submit button. I will be tracking the questions, and we'll cycle through them as we get to the end of the program.
Now it's my pleasure to turn this over to our Chairman and CEO, Tim Cawley.
Thank you, Jan, and good morning to all. I wanna thank you for being here for our fourth annual webinar to talk about our clean energy future. I'm really happy to be here today to discuss the progress we continue to make and where we're going moving forward. Con Edison is among the nation's largest investor-owned utilities. Through Con Edison of New York and O&R, we provide electric, gas, and steam service to 10 million people in our region. We deliver effectively 44% of New York State's electricity, and most of our electric, gas, and steam systems are underground. We also operate the largest steam system in the U.S., and as you'll hear, that gives us some unique opportunities in the transition from fossil fuels. Con Edison Transmission will help deliver clean energy to customers throughout the Northeast.
Not only that, but we've been around for quite a while. This year, we celebrated our 200th year in business, and we are the longest continuously traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. We may not have been around so long if we weren't so reliable, and when we speak about reliability, we really are in a class by ourselves. We are ranked as the most reliable energy company in the U.S., serving one of the nation's largest economies. Our electric delivery system is 7 times more reliable than the national average. You can see that in the chart. That world-class reliability is critically important to our customers and the region we serve, and that will need to only intensify as we move to electrified transportation and heating. Our nearly 14,000 employees are working every day to make sure the system remains safe and reliable.
At Con Edison, the pillars, excuse me, the pillars of our company culture remain consistent. We work to maintain the safety of our employees and the public every day. We value operational excellence, which shows up in all our work and leads to the reliability metrics that I just discussed. We know our customers count on us, and we work every day to maintain their trust. We invest in the customer experience. We're about to deploy a new state-of-the-art customer information system that will significantly improve the way we interact with customers every day. Con Edison's committed to excellence and equity across our company and across our service territory. We've deployed meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which help us attract and retain bright, new talent that will grow Con Edison for decades to come.
We focus on our shareholders, prudently managing our company so that we deliver for our investors, including the thousands of retirees who maintain investments in our company and rely on Con Edison for stable, reliable financial performance. In all we do, and everyone we serve, we remain intensely focused on leading the nation's energy sector through these actions, and we will leverage these values to continue delivering a reliable and efficient transition to a clean energy future. Our focus on clean, affordable energy is not a new one. Con Edison has been a leader in energy efficiency programs since the 1970s, but we've come a long way from the Save-A-Watt programs that were brought about 50 years ago. We spent $50 million on energy efficiency programs last year alone and recently achieved a very big milestone.
Our programs have helped small and medium business customers save 100 million MWh of energy. Events like Superstorm Sandy made us change the way we think about the energy future. We know that sustainability and resilience go hand in hand, so 10 years ago, we set the wheels in motion for our first gold standard Climate Change Vulnerability Study and associated resiliency plan. In September, we released the results of the first follow-up study. We're learning that climate change is happening even faster than we predicted just in 2019. If you look at the events on Friday, major flooding in New York City, our systems performed really well, but it's an indication that the climate is changing. But even before these studies, we know we needed to change our approach to how we use gas in our system.
By 2018, we were launching our non-pipe solutions plan and smart solutions for gas customers to help customers and our businesses begin to shift away from fossil fuels. We've been picking up speed since then, acting on the results of our studies with a bold, Clean Energy Commitment that makes clean our stance on achieving sustainable, clean energy for all our customers. Just last month, we completed the first segment of our Reliable Clean City project, that will enable the closing of three peaker plants that don't meet environmental standards. And just a week ago, we broke ground on our Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub, which will ensure reliability as more buildings and vehicles electrify. The hub has the added flexibility to provide plug-in options for developers of offshore wind to connect to our grid.
In July, the Public Service Commission approved Con Edison of New York's proposal for a new rate plan. The plan includes new electric and gas rates that will advance the state's clean energy goals, while also enabling the continuation of safe, reliable service. The approved plan supports critical investments in the transition away from fossil fuels, and further improves reliability. With a record of on-time, on-budget infrastructure investments and reliable power to millions of customers, we will usher in a clean energy future equitably and efficiently, so every New Yorker can share in the benefits. This investment plan will also spur infrastructure development across New York City and Westchester, and fund initiatives that will reduce emissions, promote resiliency, and continue improving our nation-leading reliability, particularly in disadvantaged communities. We're deploying the $4 billion in net proceeds from the sale of our Clean Energy Businesses as planned.
We've completed our $1 billion share repurchase program. We've invested $1.74 billion in our two utilities, allowing us to forgo equity issuances, other than that which we raised through our stock plans, until 2025. We've paid off $650 million in long-term debt holding, and by the end of the year, we'll have paid off the remaining $600 million. With no long-term holding company debt at year-end, we will have one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry. Selling the CEBs to RWE, a leader in renewables, will allow that business to grow while we focus on investing in the clean energy infrastructure closer to home.
Con Ed's a leader in the clean energy transition, and we were among the first utilities to adopt a Clean Energy Commitment as a way of holding ourselves accountable for the changes we want to see in our industry and our system. Our commitment covers five main areas or pillars. We will build the grid of the future by investing in our infrastructure so that our system can reliably deliver clean energy to all our customers. Empower our customers to meet their climate goals by leveraging incentive programs to electrify heating and transportation. Reimagine our gas system, focusing on transitioning customers to electrification and decarbonizing through investments in alternate fuels. And reduce our own carbon footprint, focusing on electrifying our own vehicle fleet and reducing emissions from all our operations.
Finally, we remain committed to partnering with stakeholders, including our customers, the communities we serve, and advocates in the environmental justice community, to ensure the costs and benefits of the clean energy transition are borne equitably. We're proud of this commitment, but prouder still of the progress we make every single day in achieving it. Across the clean energy landscape, we are seeing real, measurable results every day. I'm excited the team has joined us here to talk through the actions we've taken, the progress we're making, and our plans for the future. I'll now turn it over to Jen Hensley, our Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs. All yours, Jen. Thanks.
Thanks so much, Tim. Really very happy to be here today, and thanks everybody for joining us. New York has long been a leader in progressive climate policies and has some of the most ambitious climate change laws in the country. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which was signed into law in 2019, the CLCPA, is a driving force behind our company's goals. It sets forth targets including: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% of 1990 emissions levels by 2030, increasing renewable resources to 70% of statewide electricity production by 2030, net zero emissions from electricity production by 2040, and ensuring GHG emissions are less than 15% of 1990 levels in 2050, with offsets to reduce net emissions to zero, and developing or supporting solar and wind generation and energy storage capacity.
The CLCPA also requires between 35% and 40% of the benefits on spending on clean energy or efficiency programs be in disadvantaged communities, and mandates an air monitoring program in at least four such communities. Even within the context of the bold statewide goals, New York City, which accounts for 78% of Con Edison's customer base, has one of the most ambitious plans in the nation for reducing emissions. We support these goals and are working to ensure timely and complete implementation of these laws, as well as additional legislation, regulation, and rules that support the clean energy transition. The Assembly passed, and Governor Hochul signed in May a new statewide law banning the use of fossil fuels in new small buildings starting in 2026, and in new large buildings beginning in 2029.
The bans under the city laws start 2 years earlier for each building classification. Local Law 97 was included in the Climate Mobilization Act, passed by the New York City Council last year. It requires most buildings over 25,000 sq ft to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits by 2024, with stricter limits coming in 2030. The goal is to reduce the emissions produced by the city's largest buildings by 40% by 2030, and 80% by 2050. New York City Mayor Eric Adams released a new Pla NYC: Getting Sustainability Done Plan, which lays out further strategies to reduce emissions in building and transportation throughout the city. We work with a broad range of partners and stakeholders to advance policy changes that will further our region's clean energy goals.
We are all in on policy reforms and changes to building codes that reduce the use of fossil fuels. Repealing the so-called 100-foot rule, which subsidizes new gas connections, is one example. Legislative proposals like these will help change the trajectory of gas consumption, and help ensure that we, we meet the state and the city's clean energy goals. Likewise, we support legislation that would change permitting rules for closed loop geothermal boreholes. You'll hear more about utility thermal networks later, but the new regulations would reduce cost barriers for ground source heat pumps, and make it easier to use thermal energy networks in higher density environments like New York City. It also furthers the goals of the Utility Thermal Energy Networks and Jobs Act, part of the CLCPA.
In New York City, trees are often not thought of as a critical part of our infrastructure, but they are. We believe a cleaner, greener New York is important for our future, and Con Edison is really proud to be a part of the Forest for All coalition, which helps plant and care for trees in every neighborhood across the city, so that everyone can benefit from the tree canopy. It's why we support newly introduced city council legislation, like the Urban Forest Master Plan, and local laws to amend the New York City Charter in relation to the role of trees, tree canopy, and vegetation in the planning of our city. We have also supported a local law that will mandate solar canopies on all city-controlled parking lots with sun exposure, as well as infrastructure that would support electric vehicle charging stations.
We submitted testimony at the New York City Council oversight hearing on ensuring there is enough infrastructure to support the demand for EVs in both private and city-owned fleets. And finally, Con Edison testified at the Department of City Planning's City of Yes rezoning hearing, stating that the administrative changes proposed would reduce many of the barriers and ease the way for more EV charging stations. Composting is also a great way to reduce trash and improve the environment, and that's why we've also supported a bill that would require the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to establish composting sites in the city's largest parks by 2027.
The Clean Slate Act, which will help address the systemic barriers to jobs, housing, and education posed by old conviction records that disproportionately impacts Black and Brown New Yorkers, by automatically sealing criminal records after three years for misdemeanors and seven years for felonies. The Clean Slate Act will also help boost the economy. A study found that New York loses an estimated $7.1 billion in wages because of unemployment and underemployment among people with conviction records. This is all part of a strong and proactive strategy to advocate for policies and programs that make our community stronger. Our science-based approach to identifying and managing critical climate risks is based on research and partnership with Columbia University. Our first Climate Change Vulnerability Study, completed in 2019, identified climate risk to our territory and our energy system.
The second iteration of that study, hot off the presses, has confirmed that heat remains a high priority hazard. Temperatures in our region will increase faster than previously projected, and the number of days that are expected to reach over 95 degrees will also increase. The finding, one of many included in our second Climate Change Vulnerability Study, highlights how necessary continuous investment and strategic planning will be for our company, as increased extreme weather events, sea level rise, and coastal flooding threaten to disrupt our reliability and infrastructure. As recently as last Friday, we experienced record rainfalls, and precipitation continues to be an elevated risk. Projections have increased relative to historical norms, and last Friday demonstrated that for certain. While projections for sea level rise has not changed, it remains an important hazard, with 16 inches of sea rise expected in our territory by 2050.
We expect hurricanes and heat waves to increase in frequency and intensity, while cold snaps and nor'easters will become less frequent but more intense. Our work has never been more important or more urgent. And now, Matt Ketschke, President of Con Edison of New York, will talk more about how that research is informing our long-term planning as we build our grid of the future. Matt?
Thank you, Jen, and hello, everyone. It's nice to be with you all. For decades, New York only built energy infrastructure to serve growing customer needs, rather than reimagining energy for the future. That's not how we do things anymore. We can't. Reaching the city and state's emission reduction goals will drive our peak electric demand up and change the shape of daily electric use. The first pillar of the Clean Energy Commitment is to build a resilient 22nd-century electric grid that delivers 100% clean electricity by 2040.... Increasing adoption of electric transportation and building electrification will drastically increase electric use. With this shift away from fossil fuels, the system peak demand is anticipated to approximately double by 2050, which is equivalent to the peak electric growth we've experienced over the last half century.
Due to the amount of electric energy required for space heating, we expect to be a winter peaking electric utility by 2040. From there, we expect to both grow summer and winter electric peaks as we continue to grow. The electric system will need significant investment to increase grid capacity, maintain grid reliability, increase grid flexibility, and balance intermittent renewables. Over the next 10 years, our two utilities will be investing $72 billion in significant electric infrastructure and customer incentives to advance the clean energy future that they are expecting and deserve. We use a 10-year forecasting to identify capacity constraints across our system. CECONY uses a top-down and bottom-up economic analysis for each of our 80-plus networks in our planning process. We can then develop solutions, including non-pipe alternatives, such as energy efficiency and demand response, and vet them in the regulatory process.
Our planning process dictates the need for five new distribution and transmission substations over the next 10 years to meet our reliability criteria as electricity use grows. New substations include the Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub, approved this year, and the proposed Reliable Clean City, Eastern Queens Idlewild Project. The Eastern Queens Idlewild Project will split an existing network into two and add transmission and distribution substations to accommodate growth, spurred by the modernization of JFK Airport. The modernization will include the electrification of the entire fleet servicing the nation's sixth busiest airport. Tim cited our reliability record. We will need to maintain that world-class reliability as we transition to a clean energy economy. That means taking measures in preparation for power plant retirements in cases where the plants fail to meet environmental standards.
Ensuring reliability also means enhancing the accessibility of clean energy, including offshore winds, to different parts of the state. Propel New York will accomplish that by reinforcing and upgrading the Long Island transmission system to provide import and export capabilities with New York City and the rest of the state. These projects are part of our $14.6 billion capital investment plan over the next three years. We are making sure sustainability and resilience are built into our facilities and our operations to ensure reliability. Jen Hensley spoke about the latest climate study findings. This ongoing evaluation of climate change impacts on our service area will continue to inform us as we upgrade our energy delivery systems, by protecting our sites from flooding and more frequent heat waves, by replacing transformers, and through gas main replacement projects.
We'll be mitigating vulnerabilities through selective undergrounding of overhead lines, installing interrupter switches to minimize cascading failures, and by utilizing remote operated valves to isolate gas and steam outages. We continue to improve our response through linking our outage management system to our smart meters and improving our dispatch visibility and efficiency. Our updated customer service system is another big step forward. Reaching New York's emission goals require significant changes across all our commodities. On the electric side, we expect dramatic transition from natural gas to electric. Even with aggressive efficiency programs, we will see consumption grow from between 40%-85% by 2050. This means new investment in transmission and delivery systems to accommodate this growth. For gas, we're expecting decreases in demand of 60% or more over that same period.
Depending on R&D efforts and market changes, we expect to see our infrastructure leverage for delivery of non-carbon fuels to continue serving some customers, including those that are hard to electrify. Con Edison operates one of the largest steam systems in the world. We believe that steam will play an important role in helping our customers meet the demands of Local Law 97, as we work aggressively to decarbonize the steam production process. We believe this will be a vastly more cost-effective way to meet the city's requirements than electrification solutions for most of our steam customers. We expect the conversion of some of our steam customers and our energy efficiency efforts to drive down sales volumes gradually over time by 20%-40%. We are planning for lots of changes going forward and working to help legislators, regulators, and customers understand these expected changes.
Reliability is a critical measure of our success. But also important to us as we transition to a clean energy future, are our emissions reduction targets. Rob Sanchez, President of Orange and Rockland Utilities, will talk about how we are meeting our goals for emissions targets. Rob?
Thanks, Matt. Good morning, everyone. We are investing to position ourselves to integrate offshore wind and other renewables into the grid. Con Edison and O&R received approval for several projects in response to the Public Service Commission's solicitations for phase one projects, and that's to ensure that we're advancing the clean energy transition. Con Ed's three Reliable Clean City transmission projects in Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island are essential to ensuring reliable transmission capacity in these neighborhoods when existing peaker plants retire and new renewables come online. Across the CEI companies, phase two is focused on transmission and grid connections for upcoming offshore wind projects. Matt already covered our proposed Eastern Queens Idlewild transmission project that represents the opportunity for us and for our customers.
At O&R, we received accelerated approval for a series of phase one projects in Orange County, and we're seeking to transition 3 additional projects to phase two. Utilities have also invested in storage projects that bring our grid nearly 22 MW of storage capacity to support dispatching of renewable resources for when they're needed most. Optimizing battery storage will position us to strategically deploy and integrate large-scale renewables. We strongly believe that utilities are well-positioned in the current market to deliver efficient and reliable generation of renewables in a cost-effective manner for our customers. We're going to continue to make sure and make that case with the legislature and our regulators to win the right to deploy generation to benefit our customers. We see so much opportunity on the horizon for our business, and we're eager to pursue every opportunity that supports the excellent service we provide.
As mentioned earlier, CLCPA sets ambitious clean energy goals to have 6 GW of distributed solar by 2025 and 6 GW of energy storage by 2030. We recognize the critical role distributed energy resources have in meeting the clean energy goals. We've made it easier for our customers to install rooftop solar panels, battery systems, and other clean energy technology by way of educational outreach initiatives and incentives. We have approximately 750 MW of installed solar capacity on our combined service territories, and we expect that these opportunities will continue to grow for our customers. As shown on the right, we've helped to support our customers to connect approximately 60 MW of customer-owned battery storage. Energy storage is critical to a clean energy future and will continue to work with our customers and regulators to advance the storage goals.
The CLCPA was equally ambitious for transportation electrification, with a goal of 3 million zero-emission light-duty vehicles in use by 2030. To support the move to electric vehicles, we've invested heavily in the charging infrastructure. In 2020, we launched a PowerReady EV infrastructure incentive program, supporting the development of widespread charging stations, a total of about over 4,200 across our service territory. This program, along with our Smart Charge New York program, offers incentives to both EV stations and drivers to make the transition to electric vehicles easier and more affordable. The expansion of charging infrastructure has generated a high level of market interest and customer adoption of EVs. As a matter of fact, we've seen an exponential growth in light-duty vehicle registrations within our service territories.
Looking ahead to 2035, Con Ed is planning for 400,000 electric vehicle charging plugs and a fully electrified light-duty fleet of our own. We're transitioning our own light-duty electric fleet vehicles with 140 chargers, and last year, we introduced our first ever electric bucket truck into the fleet. We plan to deliver net zero electricity by 2040, and by 2050, we'll have enabled and supported more than 1 million electric vehicle chargers within our service territory. Next slide. Transitioning to a clean energy economy involves partnering with customers. Vicki Kuo, Senior Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions, will share how we're working to meet our customers' climate goals. Vicki?
Thanks, Rob. Good morning, everyone. The second pillar in our Clean Energy Commitment is empowering customers to meet their climate goals. This involves providing customers with the information and incentives they need to accelerate adoption of clean transportation and energy efficiency and to decarbonize buildings. To achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, customers will need to dramatically change how they consume energy. Our analysis of the required changes in energy use to achieve deep greenhouse gas reduction shows that there's significant uncertainty in the evolution and adoption of customer solutions, largely due to technology and customer behavior. Our task is to address both uncertainties. I'll give you a sense of where we need to be by 2050.
Vehicles on the road need to transform from more than 99% fossil fuel vehicles to 85%-90% clean electricity-fuel, electricity-fueled vehicles and 5%-15% low to zero carbon gas-fueled vehicles. Building energy efficiency will have to increase annually from 2 trillion BTUs to 4-8 trillion BTUs. And building space heating will need to transform from more than 95% fossil fuel today to 40%-95% clean electricity fuel, and 5%-40% low to zero carbon gas fuels or clean steam. Those are significant changes for our customers. So our plan reflects the need to increase awareness and develop incentives to improve customer economics. We will need to address customer and market considerations, such as technical constraints, customer adoption complexities, and concerns about the performance of clean energy alternatives. Let me walk you through some of these major initiatives.
Buildings and transportation comprise the two largest source of emissions in our service territory. As Rob told you, our PowerReady initiatives are supporting the installation of 23,000 charging plugs, including almost 3,000 plugs in or near disadvantaged communities. Our current authorization totals $313 million in program investment through 2025. Another potential of $290 million incremental funding is to be determined later this year as part of a regulatory proceeding. Con Edison's residential managed charging program, Smart Charge New York, rewards drivers for charging during off-peak periods. This was relaunched earlier in 2023 and expanded to Orange and Rockland in April. Con Edison has enrolled over 7,500 vehicles in this program, and Orange and Rockland having enrolled another 1,000 vehicle. Helping our customers to manage their charging needs is win-win for the customer and our distribution grid.
The cheapest and cleanest energy is the energy we don't use. That's why energy efficiency is at the heart of a clean energy future. We offer a broad array of energy efficiency initiatives to reduce greenhouse emissions, lower customer bills, and give New Yorkers control over their energy use. We have ramped up energy efficiency programs that are facilitating New York's ambitious clean energy goals. Since 2009, our energy efficiency programs have helped more than 2.5 million customers make their homes and businesses more efficient. That work has saved 11 million metric tons of carbon emissions, the equivalent of taking 240,000 gasoline vehicles permanently off the road. We have also helped with over 2,000 affordable housing buildings. From 2020- 2025, we will have invested $2.2 billion in energy efficiency and building electrification programs.
A New York State Public Service Commission order in July adopted a strategic framework for energy efficiency and building electrification portfolios, and directs New York utilities to file proposals in response. The new proceeding will increase our investment in energy efficiency and building electrification to $5 billion by 2030, but we still have a lot of work to do. Another key to our path to Net Zero is our Clean Heat program to address buildings emissions. Since 2020, we have helped, we have been working with customers to equip more than 40,000 dwellings with clean heating solutions, and we're targeting another 80,000 dwellings by the end of the decade. These replace fossil fuel equipment to eliminate on-site air pollution and improve occupant comfort.
The technology is giving households and businesses new ways to reduce energy use, and we're at the forefront in helping customers to get more value for their money while protecting the environment. As we make this transition to a clean energy economy, we're focused on mitigating customer bill impact, especially for those customers who can least afford it. We have programs in place that limit utility bills to 6% of the average annual income for our customers who receive public assistance. We have extensive outreach programs to increase customer enrollment in our Energy Affordability Program and expand our low to moderate income energy efficiency programs. Our low to moderate income energy efficiency program reached 80,000 families in 2022. Compared to the national average, our rates per kilowatt hour are high, but total customer bills are below or near average due to lower than average consumption.
Our smart meter programs and our new customer service system are part of our commitment to minimizing cost pressure on our customers. We have so far focused a lot of attention on the electric side of our business, but another major part of our Clean Energy Commitment involves our natural gas system. To discuss our approach, I introduce Kathy Boden, Senior Vice President of Gas Operations at Con Edison.
... Thank you, Vicki, and good morning, everyone. The third pillar in our Clean Energy Commitment is reimagining the gas system, and our natural gas system serves 1.2 million customers, and these folks are electric customers, too. We'll stay focused on safety and reliability of our natural gas system as we transition to a cleaner energy economy. This will involve decarbonizing the supply and reducing the use of natural gas, primarily for heating, since, as you can see on the pie chart, buildings are one of the highest emitters in our territory. This is essential for New York State and New York City to achieve their goals of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We've been an early mover in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our region in a variety of ways, many of which Vicki addressed on the customer side.
On our own gas system, we've seen a 57% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, as of 2022, primarily due to our main replacement program. There are a number of things that we're doing as we focus on the long-term natural gas strategy. As part of our statewide gas planning proceeding, in May of 2022, the New York State PSC implemented a proceeding requiring each company to file their long-term gas plan. In September, we issued a long-term gas plan, which is a 20-year horizon and includes three pathways. The first is a reference pathway, reflecting the current legal and policy framework, and based on investments approved by the New York PSC, an alternate hybrid electric generation and low carbon fuels pathway, and an alternate deep electrification pathway.
Our hybrid and deep electrification pathways meet the CLCPA emissions goals, and our plan will need to be approved by the Public Service Commission. On this slide, you'll see our long-term gas strategy is comprised of four areas: preparing our customers for electrification to reduce gas consumption, decarbonizing the supply for customers that remain on the system, focusing on the economic viability of the business, and maintaining the safety and reliability of the gas system as customers migrate partially or fully to electric. Our strategy is consistent with city and state laws and calls for phasing out most new customer connections. We expect firm customer gas volume in our system to shrink as existing gas customers migrate to electricity. We'll need to leverage non-pipeline alternatives to meet targeted customer and energy system needs, and we'll stay focused on serving the difficult to electrify customers.
We'll seek regulatory and policy changes to address necessary future investments in the gas system for safety and reliability. Those ongoing investments include our main replacement program and other projects to reduce fugitive methane emissions across the natural gas production through delivery value chain. Our gas utilities will need to fully recover the investments made to date and to attract the capital necessary to continue to operate effectively while customers are still connected. Our long-term plan envisions a gas distribution system that utilizes low-carbon alternatives for those customers remaining on the system. The curve on this slide is hypothetical, and it's a simplified version of our hybrid case in our long-term plan. The alternatives to fossil gas may include renewable natural gas, synthetic natural gas, and green hydrogen.
As you can see, the demand drops quickly after 2030, and by 2050, is expected to have a much lower carbon footprint than it has today. We are a founding member of the Low- Carbon Resources Initiative, started in 2021 and sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute and GTI Energy. Through efforts like this one, the electric and gas industries are working toward rapid decarbonization of gas supply for heavy energy end uses like dispatchable electric generation, steam generation, manufacturing, and commercial customers like laundromats and hospitals. Another way to decarbonize energy uses, like heating and air conditioning, without overburdening the electric system, is through geothermal networks. We're proposing to pilot the installation of closed loop geothermal heating and cooling systems, and this is a key strategy identified in the final scoping plan adopted by the Climate Action Council.
Last year, the Public Service Commission initiated an order to implement the state's Thermal Energy Network and Jobs Act, directing the state's utilities to propose pilots for approval. Thermal energy networks connect multiple buildings into a shared network with sources of thermal energy, such as geothermal boreholes, surface water, and wastewater. In addition, waste heat from large industrial buildings can also be used to heat smaller residential buildings. We've submitted pilot projects at a total cost of approximately $308 million. Under our proposals, our utilities would own, operate, and maintain the shared network pipe infrastructure. Now we'll move on to our steam system and other company programs. I'll turn it over to Steve Parisi, Senior Vice President of Central Operations. Steve, I think you're muted.
Excuse me. Okay. Thank you. Thanks, Kathy. The fourth pillar in our Clean Energy Commitment is to lead by reducing our company's carbon footprint. We aim for net zero emissions by 2040, and that means focusing on decarbonizing our steam system and other operations. We're proud to say that since 2005, we have reduced our direct emissions of nitrogen oxides by approximately 70% and sulfur dioxide by about 99%, and we've achieved this by adding natural gas capability to several generating units at our steam plants. We also make use of emissions reducing controls, such as low NOx burners. Increasing the proportion of cleaner burning natural gas used to produce steam was a key factor in these emission reducing efforts.... We have also drastically reduced our SO2 emissions by using predominantly natural gas and low sulfur fuels.
Since 1990, we have reduced our district steam greenhouse gas emissions by 61%. Reducing our Scope 1 emissions also involves providing 100% clean electricity for Con Ed facilities by 2030. We'll do this by installing solar, electrifying our fleet, and implementing energy efficiency measures. Newly constructed company-owned business, newly constructed company-owned buildings will be 100% electric where feasible. We anticipate investing approximately $1.5 billion over the next 10 years to decarbonize our systems, and we will continue investing across our steam system to ultimately achieve economy-wide net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The steam system comprises 85% of our Scope 1 emissions. Our long-range plan addresses pathways to decarbonizing our steam system. They include energy efficiency, low carbon fuels, electrification of boilers, carbon capture, and other technologies.
Our steam system has been providing reliable and efficient service since 1882. It is the largest district energy system in the Western Hemisphere. The system serves roughly 1,600 customers, including some of the most iconic buildings in New York City: the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Approximately 60% of our steam system is produced through cogeneration, which offsets a significant number of emissions that would otherwise be emitted by simple cycle units. This efficient use of waste heat also helps reduce the per unit non-greenhouse gas emissions. Our system could create a more energy diverse portfolio through centralized investments that immediately benefit hard to electrify buildings, as it may be a more cost-effective option to meet CLCPA and local emissions compliance.
Depending on the building type, age, and class, individual building electrification modifications can be prohibitively expensive, and the steam system is a potential solution for these buildings. Our steam proposal would further reduce emissions from our system, which already has the lowest rate of greenhouse gas emissions of any energy system in New York City. A cleaner steam service will help customers switch from on-site fossil fuel combustion and will be a key to helping New York meet its climate goals. We take our obligation to carefully manage spending on behalf of our customers very seriously, which is why we had not requested new steam rates for nearly a decade. In support of our Clean Energy Commitment, 100% of new light-duty vehicles will be EVs.
Our goal is to have 80% of our light-duty fleet electrified by 2030 and 100% by 2035. As of last year, 14% of CECONY's light-duty fleet are EVs, and 18% of O&R's light-duty fleet are EVs. Our R&D department is pursuing alternative technologies to reduce fossil fuels for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Last December, we introduced the first all-electric bucket truck to our fleet, and we are expanding the current charging infrastructure to support EVs. This includes installing higher output Level Two and DC fast chargers for our fleet and dedicated workplace chargers for our employees' vehicles. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals include protection of biodiversity as one of the keys to a healthy planet. In 2002, we embarked on a new endeavor to formalize and adopt policies to protect and restore biodiversity in unique, creative ways.
One priority was to launch a formal program to protect habitat and enhance biodiversity in the ecosystems in which we work, including on our own properties. Our recent Biodiversity Action Plan highlights the importance of biodiversity and lists our plans and metric-driven goals to address the main drivers of biodiversity loss. As you can see, we are not pursuing our goals alone. This is a collective effort. To talk more about the partnerships at the heart of our company, our employees, I introduce Venetia Lannon, Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety.
Thank you, Steve. So up to this point, we've talked a lot about the city and state's goals and what we're doing to achieve those goals. To be effective, we need the support of our workforce, our board, and the communities we serve. I'll start with the wider constituency, our community. To make deeper, more meaningful impacts in our communities we serve, this year we aligned our grant making to the company's business priorities and values. Our philanthropic activities are targeted, supportive of environmental stewardship, and responsive to inequalities: economic, social, and environmental. The expanded budget and tighter focus enable us to have a more tangible impact as we align investments with our community, political, and regulatory priorities. We're addressing climate change by creating and sustaining equitable, climate-resilient communities, prioritizing organizations and programs for funding that focus on disadvantaged communities.
We're building clean energy and tech careers by supporting education resources, programs, and alliances that help high school, college, and trade school students with the skills and competencies for growing green, clean energy careers. We're advancing social justice and environmental equality through community engagement, empowerment, and policy, policy solutions. We want to break down gender, racial, and economic barriers and create pathways to equity and inclusion in historically marginalized communities. ... Turning to our sustainable supply chain strategies. Last year, we released our Human Rights Statement to build on our Standards of Business Conduct and our Vendor Standards of Business Conduct. This is part of our determination to maintain a responsible supply chain as we advance toward our clean energy future.
Partnering involves shared goals and commitments, and that is what we are accomplishing as we expand opportunities to small businesses and enterprises owned by women and people of color. Initiatives like Green Energy Opportunities and Clean Energy Academy create job training opportunities for veterans and residents of disadvantaged communities. We serve one of the most richly diverse cities in the world. We understand that taking advantage of that wealth of experience, talent, and viewpoint will help accelerate our goals. In our 200 years, we have never been at a crossroads quite like this, reimagining the way we do business, helping a broad customer base adapt to new ways of consuming energy and responding to a global climate crisis. To fulfill our commitment to a cleaner, more just planet, we need the full range of energy, ideas, intellect, and spirit that the peoples of our community offer.
Last year, we had the highest number of new hires in 14 years. We had nearly 10,000 employees attend leadership and career training that included more than 600,000 hours of instruction. We're looking for the best talent, and we are finding it in the wide tapestry of skills that New York City and the surrounding area offers. To keep this wealth of talent functioning, to take advantage of the blend of diverse viewpoints so essential to the path we are on, we have dedicated ourselves to fostering a workplace of open communication. It won't just happen. We work at it through a 14-Point Action Plan and employee resource groups that give voice to our 14,000 employees, and we have a DEI metric tied to executive compensation. Building bridges of communication and opportunity within our workforce and communities is a big part of our mission.
The CLCPA mandates that disadvantaged communities receive at least 35%, with an ultimate goal of 45, excuse me, of 40% of the benefits of state spending on clean energy and energy efficiency. As discussed, our recent Climate Change Vulnerability Study will inform a filing later this year that identifies resilience and adaptation investments we will need to protect our systems against climate change. The study includes a new section that maps disadvantaged communities and addresses related equity issues. Given our focus on investments, it's only appropriate that I introduce Robert Hoglund, Senior Vice President and CFO, to talk about the financial implications.
Thank you, Venetia. It takes a lot of know-how and financial discipline to operate for the last 200 years, and we have accomplished that. We have a purely regulated business model that consists of state-regulated utilities with a small percentage of FERC-regulated transmission. In the last year, we have simplified our balance sheet, along with our business model. We will have no long-term holding company debt by the end of this year, after paying off one maturing note in December. We expect that our business will continue to grow as New York transitions to clean energy, and we will finance that growth through an appropriate balance of equity and debt. We do not expect to issue equity other than through our stock plans until 2025. We are also focused on shareholder value.
As part of that continuing focus, we have increased our dividend annually for 49 consecutive years. Value creation from Consolidated Edison reaches deep within our community. Just looking at our economic impact in New York City and Westchester County, we power the heart of New York, the New York Metro economy, generating thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity. We spent over $12.4 billion in 2021 to support businesses and households that spend an additional $6.4 billion in New York State. We dominate New York State's utilities industry. Our employees account for more than a third of all New York State utility workers. We don't only generate jobs inside our company. Consolidated Edison supports 332,800 jobs in New York City, Westchester County, and New York State, both directly and indirectly.
We pay more than our fair share of taxes. We generate a total of $3.8 billion in fiscal revenue, an equivalent of 2% of all taxes collected by New York City and New York State. We are an impressively diverse and inclusive bunch. Our employees are significantly more diverse than our industry peers or even New York State's employees overall. As Venetia underscored, that means a wealth of talent and ideas as we transition to a new clean energy economy. Our impact is expected to grow as we invest in New York's clean energy future. Over the next decade, we anticipate investing $72 billion at our two utilities. We have grouped our investments into three categories: core service, clean energy, and resilience. Informed by our climate change studies and our long-range plans, we will move the needle on climate change.
Con Edison Transmission is also playing a critical role in this energy transition as part of New York Transco. We are nearing completion of the New York Energy Solution project that connects upstate renewable energy to downstate. Most of that project is already in service and ahead of schedule.
... New York Transco was also selected to develop a transmission solution for Long Island, that will allow the import and export of power between Long Island and the rest of the state. This project will improve the reliability and resilience of the Long Island transmission network, while providing benefits to New York City and the rest of state electricity market. CET will have a 42% interest in New York Transco's projected $2.2 billion investment in this project, which is required to be in service in May 2030. Now, I will turn the program back over to Tim Cawley for closing remarks.
Thank you, Robert, and thanks to the entire team. Really appreciate it. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we have and will continue to need top-notch people to get the job done, and we have that. On the governance side, our board of directors has a strong and compelling blend of diversity, tenure, and skills, and we leverage their experience to improve our operations, set leadership standards, and understand best practices. Venetia talked about open communication, we have that at the board level as well, and we are a stronger company as a result of it. But it's not just us saying we are stronger, though.
We've been recognized by The New York Times, the As You Sow Racial Justice Report, and many others, for our Clean Energy Commitment, our focus on racial justice and eradication of systemic racism, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. And we're proud of these recognitions, and prouder still of the work they represent. So with that, we appreciate your engagement and listening. Let me conclude by saying I've never felt more confident about Con Edison's impact on the environment and our customers, and never more excited about the critical role we'll all play in delivering the future for New York. So thanks again, and I'm happy to take a few questions, Jan, if we've received any.
Yes, we have. I know we're running up against time, but let me run through these questions. The first one, Tim, is with constant advancing of PV solar panels, what is Con Edison's plan on replacing and recycling old panels for new, more efficient panels? And is there a trigger point when the old panels are identified as inefficient with the MW production?
Got it. Thanks, Jan. I'll frame it up a little bit. So, quite right, technology's improving in all the spaces, and we'll need innovation on this clean energy transition. So whether it's solar or storage or EVs or heat pumps, we need that. We participate with lots of groups, EPRI, notably, to help advance these technologies. So a frame-up on the question, Con Edison of New York, the regulated utilities, do not own solar, and we recently sold our clean energy business, a large solar producer, to RWE, so that we could focus on New York customers. We think we can play a role in New York State's achievement of its ambitious clean energy goals, through ownership of renewables, but we continue to make that case. For our customers, we encourage solar panels.
In fact, over 70,000 of our customers have installed 700 MW across CECONY and O&R. In terms of the trigger point for those change outs, that's a customer decision, but it's basically an economics issue, cost upfront versus the added benefit of MWs from the newer technology. Thanks for the question, Jan.
Great. The next question regards, have you sized the investment opportunity around building electrification, economics on heat pumps in New York City, given the winters, and the cost risks that we may see around implementing building electrification?
Yeah, so as Vicki and others had mentioned, emissions from buildings is an area that we're gonna need to tackle. New York City Local Law 97 is gonna require buildings to reduce their emissions, and heating electrification will be part of that. We have a number of programs aimed at helping incentivize that movement. I would say we've not fully sized the opportunity, but lots of work ahead, and Vicki and her team are focused day in and day out on that issue. Vicki, would you add anything to that at all?
No, Tim, you covered it.
Great, thanks.
Okay, the next question is concerning the Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub. Sorry for the siren in the background. Are there any potential capital impacts for the Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub, contingent upon offshore wind coming into play?
No, and just a quick overview, the Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub, about an $800 million investment in Brooklyn, and it serves two primary purposes. The first is it'll serve as the source station to provide power to a neighborhood station, and that neighborhood station will be built to address increased customer demand for electricity. So we've been talking about EVs and electrification of heating. As demand goes up, we need more infrastructure, so the hub will initially serve that area station as a source supply, and additionally, it'll act as an opportunity for offshore wind developers or other renewables to connect to the system.
Because its primary role is to serve the reliability of the Canarsie area of Brooklyn, we don't see it as being impacted by the pace of the offshore wind production.
... Great, and now we're running out of time, so this is the last question: Can you explain the ways in which Con Edison has insulated itself from higher interest rates, and is perhaps better positioned than any other utility companies in that regard?
Yeah, I'll cite a few off the top, and then I'll push to Robert to see if he has anything to add. I think, first and foremost, we have a very clean balance sheet. I covered that. We'll have no holding company debt at the end of the year. Our rate cases have some provisions that followed interest rates as we moved into the case, so latch onto what some of the latest are. And obviously, in our operations, we continue to find efficiencies to combat inflation in both labor and materials. Robert, would you add anything?
Yeah, just supplementally, Tim, I would say we have a very long duration fixed income portfolio at the utilities. No long-term holding company debt, and the rate plans that have been approved are based on an expectation of future rates, so that we're getting recovery as we fund our investments at the rates that we agreed upon in the rate plans.
Thanks, Robert, and thanks, Jan.
Great. One more question: As we build out for electrification, are we looking at our construction impacts on the environment, like specifying the use of carbon-friendly concrete?
So, we're spending more and more time focused on those issues, and we have a sustainability group that's looking at issues like that. Matt or Venetia, would you add anything or provide some detail?
Tim, I think you hit it, in we look for environmentally sustainable ways to facilitate our construction. Doing things like where we can, both use sustainable products, where they meet the required standards for construction, and when we do restoration, restoring areas back to natural habitat and sustainable habitat around our facilities.
Thanks, Matt.
Tim, I think, that's it. I think it's a wrap.
Great, so we held people for a few minutes long. Thanks all for joining. Appreciate your engagement and, as I said, really optimistic about the future of New York and our role in facilitating this clean energy transition. Super exciting times. Lots of challenge, but I think even more opportunity. Have a great day. Enjoy the weather.