Heat may grow so hostile that it pulls plug on power

An upcoming heat wave could lead to power outages in the central and eastern USA, including the major metropolitan areas of New York City, Washington and Chicago, experts said.

As temperatures rise and more people turn to their air conditioners for relief, the demand for power can become overwhelming. Power companies prepared for the worst and asked customers to be mindful of their electricity use.

“The demand for power can increase as the heat wave goes on because people become less resistant – more willing to turn their air conditioning on and up,” said Allan Drury, a spokesman for Con Edison in New York.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 100 degrees in New York City by Satur

day, according to the Weather Channel. Con Edison is prepared for “scattered outages” in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, Drury said Tuesday.

Manhattan is served exclusively by underground delivery systems that heat up as the ground warms, and the systems are further strained by increased demand for power, Drury said.

“There is always high demand in the summer – air conditioning is very power-intensive, and you will always have some failures of equipment,” said Jay Apt, a professor and co-director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center.

Con Edison said Tuesday that demand for power in Westchester County and New York City was 10,541 megawatts. Friday, Con Edison predicts a power demand of 12,400 megawatts, Drury said. That is well below the highest demand for power in history, Drury said, which happened during a heat wave in July 2013. It peaked at 13,322 megawatts.

The Washington area, which also is served primarily by underground systems, expects extreme heat and humidity this week. Christina Harper, a spokeswoman for Pepco, said the city's primary public utility company is preparing for power outages, although it doesn’t necessarily expect them.

Temperatures in the D.C. metro area are expected to reach the high 90s this week, according to the Weather Channel, and could top 100 Saturday.

In Chicago, Friday is forecast to reach a high of 96 degrees, according to the Weather Channel.

“When you have extreme weather of any kind, it can put stress on any system and can cause outages,” said Terence Donnelly, ComEd’s president and chief operating officer. “We’re watching the pending hot weather moving into our system very closely. We have scheduled our emergency response center to open up, and we have scheduled extra crews scheduled to work extra hours.”

Here are some ways to stay cool and prevent losing power, according to Con Edison, Pepco and ComEd:

❚ Turn off your air conditioner before leaving home.

❚ Use air conditioning only in rooms you are using. Block vents or turn off room-specific air conditioning units in unused rooms.

❚ Keep your curtains and shades drawn. About 40% of unwanted heat comes in through windows.

❚ Unplug all appliances and light fixtures when you are not using them. A single lightbulb can add heat to a room.