That's Hot

摘要

With the mercury peaking at 96 degrees in New York's Central Park on an afternoon in late July, the city set a record for energy draw: 13 gigawatts. That is equal to the generating capacity of seven Hoover Dams. During spikes like this, New York's Consolidated Edison buys expensive energy from peak-usage power plants, sending the wholesale spot price of a kilowatt-hour of energy—3 cents on a cool day—to $1 or higher. New Yorkers never notice the difference because the price they pay hardly varies even on the hottest day of the year.