July 20, 2005
Humidity Makes NYC Break Con Ed Records
Gothamist loves fun facts, but when we hear that yesterday's sweltering weather set new Con Ed records for power usage, we're not sure if we should be proud or slightly nervous of brownouts. The Post says that 12,361 megawatts of electricity were chruned out yesterday, besting its August 9, 2001 record of 12,207. Con Ed says the East 14th Street power station is helping to meet the demand; of course, there have been some problems at that station in the past. With the growth of the city, and explosion of electrical gadgets, Gothamist wonders will Con Ed be able to keep up? At any rate, the best quote about the weather comes from Strand Bookstore owner Fred Bass; Bass bought air conditioning for the store and says, "My employees are smiling for the first time ever."
Photograph by the Daily News
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i'm hoping for more blackouts because it might remind overconsumers that their behavior is not sustainable even in the short term and it's a free holiday in the park. i know people using electric space-heaters to overcome their air-conditioners. con ed shouldn't need to keep up, they should set limits.
Hi Hijiki,
Rampant consumption is a problem -- my personal pet peeve is when retail stores leave their doors open and blow conditioned air out into the street. (or, in the winter, when a restaurant heats its outdoor cafe.)
But how do you impose limits on energy consumption without preventing economic growth, in a city with so many (especially underclass) unemployed?
Well, since the State, Fed. Gov't and Power companies have done little or Nothing to get alleviate the problems causing the blackouts, another one wouldn't surprise me at all.
The way to curb energy usage is to increase the cost. Slap an extra 50% tax on each Kilowatt-Hr, and you'll see the cost go down. Of course, pizza slices will probably get more expensive due to epensive oven costs, which means the subway fare will go up...
try ceiling fans. they help!
i don't believe that limiting use would necessarily harm the economy... in fact i can imagine many ways in which it could help. the assumption there is that more consumption (without innovation) means more jobs, but given our current situation it's easy to see how that premise could lead to a much worse economic result. i think capping usage would encourage innovation.
Yeah, but that's kind of like saying that raising prices on food will help fight obesity. Maybe for some it might, but it's a product that's so widely used that it's almost impossible to figure out the many unintended consequences.
Another thing is who would decide where the tax money goes? the government? they'll probably use it as pork to fund some questionable "energy related" study set up to find out how much fresh cow manure would be required to heat a school.