NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jan 18, 2012) - Con Edison expects customers' gas bills to decrease again due to lower natural gas prices. Residential gas heating bills are expected to drop 11.5 percent from last year -- saving customers an average of $42 per month.

Natural gas costs less than heating oil.

The 2011-2012 average gas-heating winter bill from November to March is expected to be approximately $322 per month, down from $364 during this time last year. The amount is based on monthly usage of 236 therms.

Con Edison delivers gas to 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, and parts of Queens and Westchester County. On Sunday, these customers helped set a new distribution load record as Con Edison delivered 979,191 dekatherms of gas in one day. That broke the company's old record of 967,908 dekatherms on January 3, 2010.

Customers who are interested in converting to natural gas can learn more about the benefits of using this clean energy and available energy efficiency incentives by visiting Con Edison's newly-launched website [ www.conEd.com/gasconversions ].

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: [ ED ]), one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $13 billion in annual revenues and $37 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than three million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York. For additional financial, operations and customer service information, visit us at [ www.conEd.com ], at our green site, [ www.conEd.com/thepowerofgreen ], or find us on Facebook at Power of Green.