Con Edison is proposing double-digit rate hikes for customers in 2026, meaning an increase of 11.4% for electric customers and 13.3% for gas customers.

The utility company says the hikes are needed to maintain and upgrade its power infrastructure. In some cases, the infrastructure is only catching up with growth that's already happened.

Kamalia Amole, project manager of Reliable Clean City — LIC, leads Con Edison's $125 million project to feed more power to the areas in and around Long Island City to meet the higher demands from a growing population.

“I was born and raised in Brooklyn, so I am a New Yorker, so I guess I’m a lifelong Con Ed customer," Amole said. "So it is amazing that I actually work for Con Edison now."

"I actually am really excited,” Amole added.

In 2010, Con Edison had roughly 36,000 customers in the Long Island City area. Last year, it had more than 54,000 customers — a jump of nearly 50%.

“When I was growing up, it was just basically warehouses, it was nothing here,” she said. “So now you see all these people coming in, more population, a lot of people are moving here.”

The new Reliable Clean City — LIC project will connect two substations in western Queens through a three-mile transmission line that will carry 200 megawatts of energy to the fastest-growing area in the city.

Laura Rothrock, the president of LIC Partnership and the executive director of the LIC Business Improvement District, says the population skyrocketed 74% from 2011 to 2023. And since 2009, there are 30,000 additional jobs — and more than 30,000 new residential units have been.

“The skyline has really changed over the past 10 years,” Rothrock said.

A proposed rezoning plan called "OneLIC Neighborhood Plan" would add even more housing to the area — 14,000 new units. The review and approval process is not slated to be completed until at least next year.

Regardless 4,000 additional housing units are under construction right now, so either way, energy needs will keep growing.

“More people are working from home now as well, too, so they really rely on that consistent power throughout the day, and with so many jobs that have been created here in Long Island City, also from the standpoint of businesses needing that reliable power as well,” Rothrock said.

MTA data shows more than double the average weekday morning ridership numbers when looking at February 2025, compared to February two decades ago.

That’s at the Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue subway stop, and at Queensboro Plaza — a commuter transfer point. And the construction of Grand Central Madison has increased the infrastructure options for people traveling to Manhattan, to absorb some of the increase, giving Queens residents another way to get to Manhattan: jumping on the LIRR.

It's growth underground and above ground.

“We just want to make sure that everyone has reliable power,” Amole said.

Meanwhile, the project will also benefit other Queens neighborhoods like Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens and Woodside. Construction begins in May, and the work is expected to take around one year to complete.