Community Corner
Heat Wave Pushes Electric Usage Near All-Time Peak
Con Edison continues to urge customers to conserve energy, updates a power outage map online every fifteen minutes.
As sweltering heat and humidity continued to broil New Yorkers for a fifth straight day, Con Edison said in a release that electric usage in its service area fell just short of an all-time peak, reaching 13,161 megawatts (MW) at 5:00 p.m. Thursday. The all-time electric peak record of 13,189 MW was set on July 22, 2011.
The company continues to urge customers to use energy wisely as New Yorkers in the city’s five boroughs and Westchester cope with sizzling heat and stifling humidity. Demand response programs, which pay large customers to cut back on power usage during heat waves, were credited by Con Ed with reducing peak demand Thursday by approximately 400 MW.
Meanwhile, Con Edison said its crews are continuing to work tirelessly in the intense heat conditions to restore customers impacted by scattered power outages.
Con Edison updates an outage map of its service area, which it updates every 15 minutes.
As of 6:00 p.m. Thursday, the company had restored electric service to approximately 11,500 customers since the heat wave began earlier in the week. The company says it has additional crews and support personnel ready to respond to any electrical outages caused by the hot and humid conditions that are expected to continue through the weekend.
Con Edison offers customers energy and money-saving tips:
- Install a timer or clock thermostat on your air conditioner so you can program it to operate and shut-off at a pre-determined time.
- If you have a room air-conditioning unit, close off the rooms not being used; if you have central air, block off the vents for un-used rooms.
- Plan cooking, baking or other household activities that produce heat and humidity for the cooler times of the day and night.
- Use a portable or ceiling fan to circulate the pre-cooled air in your air-conditioned home. A fan uses about 90 percent less energy than an air conditioner.
- In very humid weather, adjust your air conditioner’s fan to a low setting. It’ll take longer for the air conditioner to cool your home, but your unit will bring in steamy air at a slower rate and make you feel more comfortable.
- Pull your curtains and shades on windows to block out the heat.
When reporting an outage, customers should have their Con Edison account number available, if possible, and report whether their neighbors also have lost power. Customers who report outages will be called by Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as they become available.
Con Edison has a new free iPhone and Android app, My conEdison, to report and check the status of a power problem, and view an interactive online outage map.
Customers can report outages and check service restoration status at www.conEd.com or by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633).
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