New Yorkers Flip on the ACs: Incredible Map
Jun 13th, 2008 by Jervey
[Map from NY Times.]
With the dog days of summer come the electricity demand spikes and annual annoyance with Con Ed. This incredible map from the Times reveals how energy use spiked with the season’s first (and oh-so-early) heat wave.
From the Times’ Wednesday article:
For a second consecutive day, the 96-degree heat and electricity use set records as residents cranked up their air conditioners to get through the unusual four-day June heat wave.
Con Edison, which provides power to 3.2 million residential and business customers in the five boroughs and parts of Westchester, said peak demand hit 12,987 megawatts on Tuesday, a new record for a June day and the fourth-highest day in the company’s history.
According to Con Edison’s calculations, the biggest jumps in demand came in residential neighborhoods where many homeowners turned on their air conditioners for the first time this year.
Read the rest here.
No better time, certainly, to consider the widespread implementation of distributed, clean energy generation. And no better resource than Solar One’s I Heart PV campaign.
In the meantime, it’s also worth checking out Con Ed’s page of energy saving tips.