New York Commercial Electricity Rates for Cannabis Facilities: EIA Averages, Utility Classes, NYISO Zones

New York vs. the U.S., June 2026

Sector	New York	U.S. average	New York premium
Commercial	23.56 cents/kWh	14.19 cents/kWh	+9.37 cents (+66 percent)
Industrial	10.17 cents/kWh	not in state file

Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Two things stand out. The commercial premium over the national average is the largest of any state where cannabis businesses can shop for supply. And the 13.39-cent gap between the state's own commercial and industrial averages is wider than the gap between New York commercial and the U.S. commercial figure. That second gap is the one a cannabis operator can act on, because it is driven by service classification, voltage, load factor, and location rather than by the price of gas.

How the major utilities structure delivery and demand charges

Utility	Territory	NYISO zones	Small class	Demand-metered classes	Demand-charge structure
Con Edison	NYC (except most of the Rockaways), most of Westchester	J, I	SC 2 General Small, up to 10 kW	SC 9 General Large, 10 kW and above, rate periods by voltage and time-of-day options	Customer charge plus per-kWh delivery plus per-kW demand; default-supply customers also pay a per-kW Demand Supply component [coned-rates] [coned-rates-faq]
National Grid (Niagara Mohawk)	Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, Utica, Mohawk Valley, North Country	A through F	SC-2 Non-Demand, under 100 kW and under 2,000 kWh a month; $25.00 customer charge and 11.345 cents/kWh delivery on the current page	SC-2 Demand once use exceeds 2,000 kWh for four consecutive months ($65.00 customer charge, $18.93/kW); SC-3 Large General when demand exceeds 100 kW in each of the previous 12 months; SC-3A time-of-use above 2,000 kW	SC-3 minimum covers the first 40 kW and per-kW charges above 40 kW run $4.36 to $15.62 by service voltage; SC-3A demand $4.89 to $15.58/kW with hourly supply posted daily by 4 p.m. [ngrid-upstate-service-rates]
NYSEG (Avangrid)	Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, Central NY, parts of the Hudson Valley	C, E, G	SC-2 small general, with a demand-billed variant	SC-3 general service (demand-metered), SC-7 large general service with sub-classes by voltage	Keyed to billing demand; accounts crossing the SC-7 threshold in repeated periods are reclassified. Current kW thresholds and $/kW not confirmed for this page [ny-dps-esco-info]
RG&E (Avangrid)	Rochester, Genesee Valley	B	SC-2 small general	SC-3 general service, SC-8 large general service	Keyed to billing demand; joint rate plan with NYSEG; confirm current figures in the RG&E rate summary
Central Hudson (Fortis)	Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Newburgh; Dutchess, Ulster, Orange	G	SC 2 without measured demand	SC 2 secondary measured demand, SC 2 measured demand over 50 kW, SC 2 primary measured demand; SC 3 Large Power Primary; SC 13 transmission-level at 69 kV and above	Per-kW delivery demand on all measured-demand sub-rates, SC 3, and SC 13; hourly-pricing special provisions for the largest accounts [cenhud-rate-codes]
Orange & Rockland	Rockland, parts of Orange and Sullivan	G	SC 2 general service, with a demand-billed variant	SC 9 general large	Per-kW demand on demand-metered accounts; pull current tariff leaves for figures

Dollar figures in this table are the ones printed on National Grid's service-rates page as opened September 11, 2026 [ngrid-upstate-service-rates]. No Con Edison, NYSEG, RG&E, Central Hudson, or O&R $/kW figures are quoted here because the current tariff leaves were not opened for this page; the utility pages for Con Edison, National Grid, NYSEG, and Central Hudson explain where to find them.

The pattern that matters for a grow: the per-kW charge at National Grid drops from $18.93 on SC-2 Demand to a range of $4.36 to $15.62 on SC-3 depending on voltage [ngrid-upstate-service-rates]. Class placement and service voltage are worth more than any supplier discount, which is why demand charges explained is the first page to read before a supply contract.

The default supply benchmark

New York does not publish a single price to compare. Each utility's default supply is priced off NYISO day-ahead market results and changes monthly.

Utility	Name of default supply	How it is set
Con Edison, Orange & Rockland	Market Supply Charge (MSC)	Calculated from NYISO day-ahead prices adjusted for load shape and losses; for demand-billed plans, split into Energy Supply per kWh and Demand Supply per kW, the latter recovering capacity cost. Default customers also pay a Merchant Function Charge and a Clean Energy Standard supply surcharge [coned-rates-faq]
National Grid	Monthly electric supply charge	Posted on the monthly Electric Rate Statement; SC-3A customers pay an Hourly Electric Supply Charge posted daily. Merchant Function Charge applies only to customers taking utility supply [ngrid-upstate-service-rates]
NYSEG, RG&E, Central Hudson	Monthly utility supply price	Market-based, changes monthly; Central Hudson bills full-service (FS) and retail-access (RA) customers under separate rate codes for each classification [cenhud-rate-codes]

The consequence: a fixed ESCO price is judged against a moving average. Build a trailing twelve-month supply cost from your bills before comparing offers. The switching guide walks through the mechanics.

NYISO and capacity

New York is a single-state ISO. NYISO runs zonal locational-based marginal pricing for energy, an installed capacity (ICAP) market in which load-serving entities must procure capacity, and transmission congestion contracts for hedging [nyiso-markets]. Capacity requirements are locational: New York City (Zone J), Long Island (Zone K), and the G-J lower Hudson Valley locality carry their own, higher, capacity prices [nyiso-markets].

Zone group	Where	Capacity cost relative to upstate
A through F	National Grid upstate, NYSEG, RG&E territories	Lowest
G (inside G-J locality)	Central Hudson, Orange & Rockland, part of NYSEG	Elevated
H, I	Northern Westchester, Con Edison Westchester	Elevated
J	New York City (Con Edison)	Highest on the mainland
K	Long Island (PSEG Long Island; no retail access)	High; not shoppable [ny-dps-esco-info]

This is why an ESCO quote must state whether capacity is fixed or passed through. For a Zone J account the capacity component can move more than the energy component from one year to the next.

Seasonality

New York's climate normals are 6,001 heating degree days and 618 cooling degree days a year [noaa-cag-new-york]. Energy prices in NYISO's day-ahead and real-time markets rise in summer with air-conditioning load and can spike in winter when gas is constrained, and the locational capacity requirement is set and priced by NYISO on its own schedule [nyiso-markets]. On the delivery side, Con Edison's SC 9 carries rate periods and time-of-day options that price summer differently [coned-rates]. A cultivation facility with a flat, year-round load smooths out its own energy cost but still pays the seasonal demand charges; a dispensary with a July afternoon peak pays them at the worst time.

Downstate versus upstate EIA spread

New York commercial customers averaged 23.56 cents per kWh and industrial 10.17 cents in June 2026 [eia-epm-5-6-a]. The industrial average reflects large upstate load; Con Edison SC 9 accounts in Zone J behave differently [coned-rates]. Compare account-level bills, not state averages alone [eia-epm-5-6-a].

2019 Reset Order and mass-market boundary

The PSC December 2019 order in Case 15-M-0127 restricts ESCO products for mass-market residential and small non-residential accounts [ny-psc-reset-order-2019]. Demand-metered cannabis facilities are generally outside mass-market and may sign ordinary fixed, index, or block-and-index contracts [ny-dps-esco-info]. Confirm service classification before assuming unrestricted products [ny-psc-reset-order-2019].

How to read a New York rate

1. Find the service classification on the delivery section. It tells you whether demand charges apply and which threshold you are near.
2. Separate the supply line. Under utility supply this is the Market Supply Charge or monthly supply price plus the Merchant Function Charge and surcharges [coned-rates-faq]; under an ESCO it is the ESCO's charge, usually on the same consolidated bill.
3. Find the billed kW and multiply by the class's per-kW charge to see what demand is costing you. On National Grid SC-2 Demand at $18.93 per kW, a 60 kW peak is about $1,136 a month before any energy [ngrid-upstate-service-rates].
4. Divide the total bill by kWh to get your all-in cents per kWh, then compare it to the 23.56-cent state average [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Above it, look at demand and class placement first. Below it, the supply contract is the remaining lever.
5. Note the NYISO zone. If you are in J, I, or G, ask what share of the supply line is capacity.

The understanding your commercial utility bill page shows a worked bill line by line, and the state rate comparison tool puts New York next to the other cannabis states.