Expected deferred revenue

  
  
NY RegulationIn March 2020, a former New York State governor declared a State Disaster Emergency for the State of NY due to the COVID-19 pandemic and signed the "New York State on PAUSE" executive order that temporarily closed all non-essential businesses statewide. The former governor then lifted these closures over time and ended the emergency declaration in June 2021. As a result of the emergency declaration, and due to economic conditions, the NYSPSC and the Utilities have worked to mitigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Utilities, their customers and other stakeholders.  
In March 2020, the Utilities began suspending service disconnections, certain collection notices, final bill collection agency activity, new late payment charges and certain other fees for all customers. The Utilities also began providing payment extensions for all customers that were scheduled to be disconnected prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, the state of NY enacted a law prohibiting NY utilities, including CECONY and O&R, from disconnecting residential customers, and starting in May 2021 small business customers, during the COVID-19 state of emergency, which ended in June 2021. In addition, such prohibitions were in effect until December 21, 2021 for residential and small business customers who experienced a change in financial circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  
In November 2021, the NYSPSC issued an order establishing a surcharge recovery mechanism for CECONY to collect, commencing December 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022, $43 million and $7 million for electric and gas, respectively, of late payment charges and fees that were not billed for the year ended December 31, 2020. The company recorded such amounts as revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, as permitted under the accounting rules for regulated utilities, and also accrued such amounts as a current asset at December 31, 2021. Pursuant to the November 2021 order, the company also established a recovery mechanism for CECONY to collect, commencing January 2023 through December 2023, $19 million and $4 million for electric and gas, respectively, of late payment charges and fees that were not billed for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the company recorded such amounts as revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, as permitted under the accounting rules for regulated utilities, and also accrued such amounts as a current asset at December 31, 2021. In addition, pursuant to the November 2021 order, CECONY established a reserve of $7 million toward addressing customer arrearages for the year ended December 31, 2021 that, pursuant to a June 2022 NYSPSC order discussed below, will be used to fund a portion of the COVID-19 arrears assistance program for low-income customers. The order also established a surcharge recovery or surcredit mechanism for any late payment charges and fee deferrals, subject to offsetting related savings resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, for 2022 starting in January 2024 over a twelve-month period. CECONY resumed late payment charges for commercial and residential customers who have not experienced a change in financial circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic on September 3, 2021 and October 1, 2021, respectively. Pursuant to the October 2021 joint proposal for new electric and gas rates for O&R that was approved by the NYSPSC in April 2022. O&R recorded late payment charges and fees that were not billed for the years ended December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2021 of $1.7 million and $2.4 million, respectively, as revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, as permitted under the accounting rules for regulated utilities, and also accrued such amounts as a current asset at December 31, 2021. See “Rate Plans,” above. O&R resumed late payment charges for commercial and residential customers who have not experienced a change in financial circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic on October 1, 2021. The Utilities’ NY rate plans allow them to defer costs resulting from a change in legislation, regulation and related actions that have taken effect during the term of the rate plans once the costs exceed a specified threshold. The total reserve increases to the allowance for uncollectible accounts from January 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022 reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for CECONY electric and gas operations and O&R electric and gas operations were $259 million and $7 million, respectively, and were deferred pursuant to the legislative, regulatory and related actions provisions of the rate plans as a result of the New York State on PAUSE and related executive orders, that have since been lifted, as described above. The Utilities’ NY rate plans also provide for an allowance for write-offs of customer accounts receivable balances. The above amounts deferred pursuant to the legislative, regulatory and related actions provisions were increased/(reduced) by the amount that the actual write-offs of customer accounts receivable balances were above/(below) the allowance reflected in rates which differences were $7 million and $(2) million for CECONY and O&R, respectively, from March 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022.  
In June 2020, the NYSPSC directed CECONY to implement a summer cooling credit program to help mitigate the cost of staying home and operating air conditioning for health-vulnerable low-income customers due to the limited availability of public cooling facilities as a result of the COVID-19 social distancing measures. The $63.4 million cost of the program is being recovered over a five-year period that began January 2021.  
In April 2021, NY passed a law that created a program that allows eligible residential renters in NY who require assistance with rent and utility bills to have up to twelve months of electric and gas utility bill arrears forgiven,   
  
  
  
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