NYU to decrease electrical usage during heat wave

NYU will turn off and idle air conditioning sytems across campus this week as temperatures in the city continue to pressure Con Edison.

The New York utility is asking many tenants to lower their electrical usage as temperatures flirt with the 100º mark for the third day. Con Ed is forecasting record power demand today.

Provost David McLaughlin and Executive Vice President Michael Alfano sent an e-mail to the NYU community explaining the decision to curtail power usage.

"To respond to this request, NYU will be selectively shutting off air conditioning in certain facilities, as air conditioning is an enormous electrical drain," they said.

The university will also turn off unneeded elevators and lights. Some employees in affected buildings will be dismissed early but will receive full pay.

The last major blackout affecting New York City was in 2003 when power generators across the Northeast and Canada failed, impacting millions of people. So far today outages have taken 7,819 Con Ed customers offline, with more than half of the impacted customers located in Staten Island.

The temperature is expected to reach 96º tomorrow, before falling back to the high 80's this weekend.

At this time, the university expects all employees to report to work tomorrow with no office closings yet announced. For up-to-date information on NYU electrical outages check nyu.edu/life/safety-health-andwellness/info-alerts.html.