Categories
Utilities
Water Supplier
Water is the one utility where the operator has zero vendor choice — NYC DEP is the sole provider for all five boroughs, billed at the rate set annually by the NYC Water Board. The FY2026 combined water and sewer rate is $13.07 per hundred cubic feet, and a busy 100-seat restaurant runs $800–$2,000/month. The only place to push back is on the consumption side (low-flow pre-rinse spray valves, ice-machine reclaim, dishwasher waste-water heat exchange) and on disputing meter reads through DEP customer service before they go to lien.
View briefing →Propane Service
Propane is not the primary fuel for anything in a NYC restaurant — natural gas runs ranges and boilers, electricity runs walk-ins and POS. Propane exists for the spots gas lines do not reach: rooftop bars firing portable burners, sidewalk café heaters, food trucks, mobile bartending stations, off-grid event setups, and emergency backup. The vendor needs FDNY G-23 certification to deliver and store cylinders, and the per-tank exchange runs $25–$30. NYC outdoor heater rules tightened in 2025 — verify the vendor stocks compliant equipment.
View briefing →Electricity Provider
Electricity is the single largest utility line on a NYC hospitality P&L and is becoming the single largest regulatory burden. Full-service restaurants spend $2.50–$5.00 per sq ft annually (3–7% of revenue), and hotels run $2,000–$6,000 per room per year, with HVAC and lighting driving 60% of the load. Con Edison delivers it but operators can pick the supply ESCO under the NY retail-choice market, and the LL97 emissions cap kicks in 2030 at $268/metric ton CO2e — which is reshaping how operators think about gas-to-electric conversion.
View briefing →Gas Provider
Gas is the invisible backbone of NYC hospitality — every range, every hot-water heater, every pizza deck oven runs on Con Edison or National Grid pipes, and operators do not choose the utility (it is assigned by geography). The bigger story is the structural electrification mandate: LL154 of 2021 banned gas hookups in new construction (but exempts commercial kitchens, so gas cooking is still permitted), and LL97 starts pricing combustion emissions in 2030. Negotiate the supply commodity through a broker; the delivery side is regulated.
View briefing →Other Operations sub-areas
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