Consolidated Edison

Con Edison's track record of reliability in our operations is matched only by our financial performance. This reflects our focus on maximizing value for our shareholders. As a result of our strong financial performance, we have been able to increase our dividend each year for more than a quarter century. We remain committed to providing our shareholders a superior, low-risk, long-term total return. All the while, we continue to provide the most reliable electric service in the world. New York Gas Light Company merges with five other gas companies to form the Consolidated Gas Company of New York. The company buys the New York Gas & Electric Light, Heat & Power Company. The company merges with Edison's Illuminating Company to create the New York Edison Company. Consolidated Edison Company of New York is created from the combined holdings of New York Edison. State government buys two of Con Ed's generating plants for $612 million. Terrorist attack on World Trade Center destroys two Con Ed substations and interrupts power to 12,000 customers. Con Ed began as New York Gas Light Company, founded in 1823 to provide gas for New York's street lamps and homes. Gas illumination had been introduced only recently in the United States and, at first, met widespread resistance due to concerns about safety, but its economy and efficiency soon made gas the standard light source for much of the 19th century. By the last quarter of the century, New York Gas Light and five rival companies supplied gas to the great majority of New York's already vast population, much of which could not imagine a time when the city had been without gas light. Among the men who became interested in the future of electric light was Thomas Alva Edison, already famous for his invention of the phonograph and a series of improvements in telegraphy. It was clear to Edison that electricity was destined to light the world, and in 1878 he focused his energies on solving the problems remaining in its development. To make electric light truly universal, two things were needed: a sturdy and economical form of incandescent illumination; and a power grid able to distribute safe, reliable electric current from its source of generation into distant apartments and homes, something that had not yet been attempted on a large scale. Incandescence was a well-known method of illumination, but no one had yet found a material able to withstand long hours of operation without burning up. The inventor shelved his other projects and devoted himself and his considerable staff to experiments in electric light. The scope of Edison's ambition in these ventures can hardly be overestimated. In essence, he was proposing to design and build the system of electric power distribution upon which the entire world remains dependent. Literally everything had to be created--generators, transmission lines, switching equipment, and protective devices; and, within the home or office, internal wiring, outlets, lamps, meters, and even the light source, the bulb, itself. Such an immense project naturally would require capital, and in October 1878 Edison's group joined forces with Wall Street financiers in forming the Edison Electric Light Company. Edison's backers included J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt interests, both of whom saw the potential of the new system. With his financing in place, Edison redoubled his experiments, and by the end of 1879, working furiously to best the efforts of Joseph Swan in England, he had devised a workable incandescent light using a filament of high-heat-and-electric-resistant "thread" in an evacuated glass globe. Edison simultaneously had solved most of the generation and transmission problems, and by 1880 was ready to apply to the city of New York for permission to build the nation's first commercial electric power station. At that point a legal technicality forced the creation of a subsidiary corporation, Edison Electric Illuminating Company, to act as an operating comp