NYC Faces 'Heat Emergency,' Electric System Under Strain: Mayor

NEW YORK CITY — A scorching heat wave has pushed New York City's electric system to its limit and city dwellers need to immediately cut back on their power consumption, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

“Immediately reduce the use of electricity in your home or in your business,” he said Wednesday at the top of a hastily organized news conference.

"Use less electricity starting right this moment,” he said at its close.

We need ALL New Yorkers to reduce their use of electricity in homes and businesses for the rest of today in order to avoid energy disruptions. Take steps right now so we can all stay safe and have continued service through to the end of this heat wave tomorrow morning.
— City of New York (@nycgov) June 30, 2021

New York City is under the fourth day of sustained high temperatures and the third day of a heat advisory. With high humidity, heat indices can reach up to 104 degrees.

The heat likely will break by Thursday morning, perhaps with thunderstorms, but until then it's nothing less than a "heat emergency," de Blasio said.

Con Edison has seen sustained high power consumption over days, which has led to localized outages, he said.

"We’re at the end of this heat wave, but it really has added up,” he said.

The biggest localized outage affected 1,700 customers in Williamsburg, said John Scrivani, the city's emergency management director. ConEd crews are distributing dry ice at Nassau and Morgan avenues and city officials have set up a bus as a localized cooling center, he said.

New Yorkers should avoid using high-power devices such as washers, dryers and microwaves until Thursday morning, de Blasio said.

He said they should also, if they can, reduce the use of air conditioning.

"Set it at a higher temperature if you need the air conditioning,” he said.

"This is very serious stuff," he said. "We need to ensure that our electric supply is protected. We need to avoid any possible disruptions. We've all experienced that and know how problematic that can be — what a problem for all of it could be if electricity is disrupted in any way.

"This is a chance for all New Yorkers to do something about it."

The warning produced memories of the 2003 blackout for many New Yorkers. A surge in demand for power during August sparked a power cut that left much of the North East in the dark, with parts of NYC left without power for 30 hours.