Can you save on the supply line?
O&R New York customers can shop the supply half of the bill: stay on O&R default service or switch to an ESCO licensed by the NY PSC. The April 2026 PSC ESCO settlement requires residential ESCO offers to either beat a benchmark price or be a guaranteed-renewable product. See our NY suppliers page or check the PSC Power to Choose tool to compare offers against the current default rate.
The active page of the bill, line by line
The first page of an O&R bill carries all the live numbers for the current cycle. The left column tracks every charge top-to-bottom; the right column summarises the account and shows your usage trajectory. The order on the page is consistent with the rest of the Consolidated Edison bill family, useful if you used to live in NYC and read a ConEd bill before.
Header: who you are, where you are, when the next read lands
The header carries the account holder name, the service address, and the date of the next meter reading. That last date tells you when the current cycle will close. If you are moving out within a week of that date, ask O&R to schedule a manual final read aligned to your move-out date rather than letting it fall on the next regular read.
Electric residential - delivery
The delivery section of the electric portion opens with the meter readings: a previous and a current read, each stamped Actual or Estimated. The two numbers are odometer-style counters; subtracting the earlier from the later gives the kWh used in the cycle. Actual means a real read; Estimated means O&R used your usage history to forecast and will reconcile at the next Actual read.
Delivery charges, top to bottom
- Basic Service Charge. Flat monthly fee. Same regardless of usage. Funds meter reading, billing, customer service.
- First 250 kWh delivery charge. Per-kWh delivery rate applied to the first tier of usage.
- Next 250 kWh delivery charge. Per-kWh delivery rate for the second tier; tends to step down slightly versus the first tier.
- Energy Cost Adjustment. True-up line for legacy supply agreements between O&R and non-utility generators (IPPs). Can be a charge or a credit.
- RDM Adjustment. Revenue Decoupling Mechanism reconciliation. Returns surplus delivery revenue, or recovers shortfalls.
- SBC Charge. System Benefits Charge: funds energy efficiency and low-income assistance programs.
- RPS Charge. Renewable Portfolio Standard: funds NY State renewable energy targets.
- Government Surcharges - Delivery. Bundled line for NY State sales tax on delivery, Gross Receipts Tax (if applicable) and any local or village taxes. O&R is one of the few NY utilities that combines these into a single line.
The delivery section closes with a subtotal: Total delivery charges. That subtotal is governed by the 2025 NY PSC rate case for O&R and steps up on the rate-year anniversary defined in that order.
Electric supply: one line if you have an ESCO, several if you do not
The supply section pays for the electricity itself. Two scenarios:
O&R default service
Three line items
- Market supply charge. Per-kWh price from PSC-approved O&R auctions; resets on a rolling schedule.
- Merchant function charge. O&R\'s cost of procuring the energy on your behalf.
- Merchant supply charge adjustment. Small true-up line.
ESCO supply
One block
- Single total $. The ESCO\'s contract rate times the kWh used.
- Effective ¢/kWh. Divide the total by your kWh to get the effective price, then compare against O&R\'s current default rate.
- No merchant function charge. O&R does not procure for ESCO customers, so the line is removed.
The supply section closes with a subtotal: Total supply charges. Add it to the delivery subtotal plus the sales tax on supply to get the electric total for the month.
Quick check: am I getting a fair ESCO rate?
Divide the ESCO supply total by your kWh used. Compare the result to O&R\'s default supply rate on the same bill or on the PSC Power to Choose tool. If the ESCO is more expensive and the contract is not guaranteed-renewable, the April 2026 PSC settlement lets you exit at no charge.
Gas section: same structure, different unit
If you take gas from O&R for "Residential Space Heating", the gas section sits below the electric section on page 1. The layout mirrors the electric block: delivery on top, supply below. The unit changes from kWh to CCF (one hundred cubic feet).
Gas delivery charges
- Basic Service Charge. Flat monthly fee for gas service. Same regardless of usage;
- Delivery charge first 3 CCF. Often priced at zero in the residential gas tariff because it is bundled into the basic service charge;
- Next 47 CCF (winter tier). Per-CCF delivery rate for the next usage block;
- Next 108 CCF. Per-CCF rate for the third block; tends to step down slightly versus the previous tier;
- Adjustment charge. Recovers costs from O&R\'s long-term gas purchase agreements (similar to the electric Energy Cost Adjustment);
- SBC Charge. Same role as on the electric side;
- Government Surcharges - Delivery. Bundled state and local taxes on gas delivery.
Gas supply charges
- Merchant Function Charge (gas). Covers O&R\'s cost to procure and store the gas, plus collection and credit costs;
- Total Supplier Charge. The sum of the Merchant Function Charge and the Market Supply Charge of gas. On a default-service bill, this gives you the supply cost per cycle; on an ESCO gas bill, the figure is replaced by the ESCO\'s contract rate.
Gas-only ESCO trap
You can switch to an ESCO for electricity, for gas, or for both. The contracts are separate. A customer can sit on O&R default electric supply and on an ESCO gas supply, and vice versa. Check both blocks on the bill rather than assuming an "all-O&R" or "all-ESCO" status.
The right column: account summary and the usage graph
The right side of page 1 is the dashboard view. It collapses the line-by-line detail of the left column into the numbers that drive what you do next:
- The account number, the same on every bill;
- The previous balance, the payments received, the current charges and the total amount due;
- The due date;
- A usage history graph showing the last 12 months of kWh (and CCF if applicable) for visual comparison.
If your total amount due looks higher than expected, the usage history graph is the first place to check. A bar twice as tall as the same month last year is a fast signal: either you used more energy (cold snap, new electric vehicle, work-from-home shift) or the bill is built on an Estimated read that will reconcile next month.
An O&R quirk: tri-state customer service routing
The number on every O&R bill, 1-877-434-4100, handles residential customer service for all three O&R footprints: New York (this page), New Jersey (RECO), and the small Pennsylvania territory (Pike County Light & Power). Same call centre, three legal entities, three regulators.
Why this matters for your call
- · Have your account number ready. The prefix routes you to the right tariff. Without it, agents triage you through a generic queue and may transfer you a second time;
- · Be clear which state you are in. An issue answered with NJ rules will be wrong for a Rockland County customer, even though the rep is friendly and well-meaning;
- · Rate-case questions are state-specific. The 2025 NY PSC rate case does not apply to RECO; the NJ BPU runs its own RECO rate case under different rules.
When you call about a specific charge on the bill, say "I am a New York customer" within the first sentence. It removes friction on the agent\'s side and gets you to the correct rule book faster.
Five charges customers ask about most
Charge 1
Basic service charge
Flat fee, set by the NY PSC rate case. Cannot be avoided while the account is open. Switching to an ESCO does not change it.
Charge 2
RDM adjustment
Revenue Decoupling Mechanism. Returns over-collected delivery revenue or recovers shortfalls. Can be a charge or a credit; usually small.
Charge 3
Government surcharges - delivery
Bundled NY State and local taxes. Single line on O&R bills (other NY utilities itemise these). Detail on the back of the bill.
Charge 4
Merchant function charge
O&R\'s cost of procuring energy on default-service customers\' behalf. Removed when you switch to an ESCO; the ESCO\'s equivalent is built into its quoted rate.
Charge 5
System Benefits Charge (SBC)
Funds NY State energy efficiency, low-income assistance and research. Applies on every NY utility bill; rate set by the PSC each year.
Charge 6
Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
Funds the state\'s renewable energy procurement targets (solar, wind, hydro). Same applies-everywhere logic as SBC.
If you cannot pay the bill
Call O&R at 1-877-434-4100 before service is at risk. Options to ask about:
- Deferred payment agreement. A structured plan that spreads arrears over several months;
- Budget Billing. Averages 12 months of usage so winter heating and summer cooling no longer drag the bill up and down. Does not change the annual total, only the monthly shape;
- HEAP / LIHEAP. New York\'s federal energy assistance program. Apply through your county Department of Social Services or at otda.ny.gov/programs/heap. Regular, Emergency and Heating Equipment Repair / Replacement benefits;
- EAP (Energy Affordability Program). NY PSC discount program for income-qualified customers, applied automatically once enrolled.
The earlier you call, the more options stay open. Waiting until the shutoff notice arrives narrows your choices and adds late fees on top.
Frequently asked questions
O&R is a tri-state utility under one customer-service umbrella, even though each state piece is a separate legal entity. The main residential line, 1-877-434-4100, routes calls to NY agents most efficiently when you have your account number ready: the prefix on the account number tells the system which state, which tariff and which billing system to load. Without the number, calls may be triaged through a generic queue before being transferred, sometimes producing the impression of an odd routing.
Online O&R rate tables show the current tariff in cents per kilowatt-hour, but the bill total is built from three layers: per-kWh delivery, per-kWh supply, and the flat customer charge, then sales tax on top. The advertised ¢/kWh is the per-kWh slice only. Divide your full bill by the kWh used and you will always land a few cents higher than the advertised rate because of the flat fees.
New York sales tax is applied separately to the delivery subtotal and the supply subtotal. Some local jurisdictions also add a Gross Receipts Tax. On the O&R bill, the delivery tax sits at the bottom of the delivery section; the supply tax sits at the bottom of the supply section. Adding both gives you the total tax burden on the bill.
The basic service charge (also called the customer charge) is a flat monthly fee set in O&R's rate case. You pay it whether you used 50 kWh or 2,000 kWh that month. It funds meter reading, customer service and the fixed cost of keeping you connected. You cannot avoid it while the account is open. Switching to an ESCO changes the supply line only; the customer charge stays.
The Revenue Decoupling Mechanism (RDM) reconciles O&R's actual delivery revenues against an approved target. If O&R over-collected during a year, the surplus is refunded to customers via a credit on the RDM line. If it under-collected, the shortfall is recovered. The mechanism removes O&R's incentive to push more usage and is the reason energy-efficiency programs can grow without bankrupting the utility.
O&R bundles certain state and local taxes into a single "Government Surcharges - Delivery" line, unlike some other NY utilities that itemise them. The line typically includes New York State sales tax on delivery, the Gross Receipts Tax (if applicable), and local or village taxes for jurisdictions that have them. The total is straightforward; the breakdown is on the back of the bill or on the O&R website.
O&R bills gas in CCF (one hundred cubic feet), the volumetric unit. Many other NY utilities (and most furnace specs) use therms, an energy unit. The conversion is roughly one CCF equals one therm, drifting slightly with gas composition. If you are comparing a furnace efficiency rating in BTU per therm against your bill, multiply your CCF by approximately 1.03 to get therms, then by 100,000 to get BTUs.
Yes. Pearl River sits in Rockland County, New York, inside O&R's NY service territory and on the SC-1 residential tariff for electricity. This page applies to all O&R electricity and gas customers in Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties. Customers in northern New Jersey (Bergen, Passaic, Sussex) are served by RECO under a different tariff; customers in Pike County, Pennsylvania, are served by Pike County Light & Power.
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