NYC Buildings Cut Power To Stave Off Blackouts During Heat Wave: Mayor

NEW YORK, NY — As temperatures creep up in New York City, more city buildings than ever will turn down their energy use in the hopes of staving off blackouts common in heatwaves, the mayor announced.

Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday that a city program cutting energy in public buildings during heat waves has expanded to include 555 facilities, 90 of which were added in the last few years.

The expansion comes as officials as New Yorkers to lower their own energy use to avoid blackouts as temperatures climb into the triple digits this week.

“We know that when the temperature rises in the summer months, so too does energy usage,” Adams said. “City Hall and other city buildings are proud to lead by example when it comes to reducing strain on the grid during peak demand through the Demand Response program."

With a heat index expected to reach as high as 104 degrees, a heat advisory for New York City was extended from noon Wednesday to Thursday at 8 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Such heatwaves have caused outages in past years, leaving thousands of New Yorkers to suffer the heat without electricity.

Under the "Demand Response" program, utility companies pay the city to reduce its energy. The program has raked in $100 million since it started in 2013, in addition to reducing emissions and helping keep strain off the system, officials said.

Con Edison has also been preparing for a hot summer in 2022, spending $1.75 billion in the past year in fortifying parts of its system that needed more investment, a spokesperson told Patch. Despite the high investment, the company said its system fared relatively well in 2021, noting that scattered outages are still likely during heat.

"We always encourage customers to use energy wisely, and it becomes more crucial during a heatwave because it takes stress off our system and keeps service more reliable," the spokesperson said.

Here's how everyday New Yorkers can limit their energy use during heatwaves, according to city officials:

• Setting air conditioners at 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Running their cooling system at a 75-degree setting uses 18 percent more electricity and 39 percent more electricity at 72 degrees;
• Utilizing timers to set cooling systems to begin working no more than a half an hour prior to one’s arrival home;
• Refraining from using air conditioning when no one is home;
• Reducing indoor lighting; and
• Unplugging unused electronics.

Officials have also opened cooling centers for New Yorkers without air conditioning and the most vulnerable — seniors and people with chronic health problems or mental health conditions — during heat waves.

New Yorkers can visit the city's "Beat The Heat" page or call 311 for cooling center locations.

Patch reporter Matt Troutman contributed to this report.