Exhibit A: Con Ed requesting an increase in rates.

This supposedly starved utility launched a sweeping advertising campaign last spring declaring that it was "on it." Since most people have to use Con Ed anyway, this ad campaign had nearly no tangible value except for vague notions of general goodwill.

Then the blackout. While surrounding areas such as Northern New Jersey recovered the same night, Con Ed took much longer than its counterparts to restore energy to the area it served. I don't want to hear about how complicated Manhattan is. With such a dense population here, it has that much more cash coming in.

Last summer I conducted an unscientific, anecdotal survey of what people pay for electricity each month. It turned out that people with similarly sized apartments paid the same exorbitant rates for air conditioning regardless of how many hours it was running. Whether somebody worked at home or was out all day and most of the weekend with the air conditioning off, the rate was largely equivalent.

Con Ed may in fact need more money, but before asking for it, the company should eliminate its advertising and marketing programs, both of which are basically unnecessary.