Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED) stock rose over 1.5% on 3rd, August, 2018 (as of 12:44 PM GMT-4; Source: google finance) after the company in the second quarter of FY 18 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 61 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 57 cents. For the year of 2018, the company reaffirmed its previous forecast of adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $4.15 to $4.35 per share. Adjusted earnings per share exclude the Clean Energy Businesses’ net mark-to-market effects, the amount of which will not be determinable until year end. The company has reported 2018 second quarter net income of $188 million compared with $175 million in 2017
ED has declared a quarterly dividend of 71.5 cents a share on its common stock, payable September 17, 2018 to stockholders of record as of August 15, 2018.
Moreover, over the next three years, the company expect to be investing over $9.5 billion in the systems. The company is piloting the use of methane detectors in customer homes that will alert them to the presence of natural gas. Furthermore, the company is ramping up its natural gas main replacement program to 100 miles a year by 2021, and the company is working with Google and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to utilize technology that can help identify the location of non-hazardous methane leaks to cut down on carbon emissions.
Meanwhile, ED is investing in its electric delivery systems, using new technologies, and working with customers to help them use less energy, as another hot New York summer approaches. The company had invested $1.5 billion in its overhead and underground systems in New York City and Westchester County to prepare for this summer. Further, ED is installing a 12-megawatt hour battery system on company-owned land in Ozone Park, Queens. The company will charge the batteries when demand for power is low and then discharge that power at peak times, taking pressure off the grid. The storage project is part of the Brooklyn-Queens Neighborhood Program, in which Con Edison works with customers in certain fast-growing areas to help them reduce their usage.
On the other hand, ED’s clean energy businesses now have large renewable facilities in 17 states, which represents a $4 billion investment. ED is now the fifth largest solar producer in North America, delivering emission-free electricity to the communities served and stable earnings growth for shareholders. Con Edison Transmission invests in both natural gas and electric transmission outside the service area of the regulated utilities.
Additionally, after the recent steam main rupture in Manhattan, ED is continuing to work closely with businesses and residents to help mitigate the impact of the event and will conduct a thorough investigation into the root cause