New York City sends alerts telling residents to limit use of AC and washing machines amid heat wave

NYC mayor and utilities urge residents to conserve energy as power outages hit hundreds of households

New Yorkers cool off in Washington Square Park on 30 June as temperatures approach 100 degrees Fahrenheit during a bicoastal heat wave. (Getty Images)

New York City issued emergency alerts to residents urging them to “immediately limit energy usage” amid a heat wave and power outage warnings as temperatures approach 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The city’s emergency alert system called on New Yorkers to “avoid use of energy-intensive appliances such a washers, dryers and microwaves” and to “limit unnecessary use of air conditioning.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio told residents on Wednesday to “turn off anything you don’t need to be on right now.”

“If you can wait until tomorrow to use certain appliances, wait. This is what we have to do,” he said during a press conference with emergency response officials.

Energy utility Con Edison also asked residents to conserve electricity on Wednesday, as the utility reported thousands of customers impacted by cuts after it reduced power voltage by 8 per cent in some neighbourhoods. Hundreds of households and businesses were also impacted by outages.

There were more 90-degree weather days in June than any year within the last 30 years.

“This is a really big strain being placed on our electric system by this level of heat for this many days,” the mayor said.

A heat advisory remains in effect across New York and much of the tri-state area, with heat indexes reaching 100 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit in New York City, according to the National Weather Service.

A slow-moving cold front is expected to bring rain and thunderstorms across the area on Thursday, the agency reported, potentially dropping temperatures before another heat surge over the weekend.

The city has opened cooling centres and other energy assistance programmes to help residents stay out of the heat.

Extreme heat conditions across the US, exacerbated by a “heat dome” and a growing climate crisis, have caused roads to buckle and worsened droughts in most of the western US – data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that virtually all of the American west is enduring severe or extreme drought conditions. More than 230 people in Canada have died from heat, and officials have reported dozens of deaths along the west coast in connection to extreme temperatures.