(Bloomberg) -- An early summer heat wave is searing New York City, driving power use to the highest since September.
As air conditioners blasted, demand in the city hit 8.6 gigawatts at 12:11 p.m. and could later peak above 9 gigawatts, according to the state's grid operator. Ample supplies have minimized price increases, with delivery for the hour that ended at 10 a.m. up just 2.8% to $30.20 a megawatt-hour. That may change as heat intensifies.
Manhattan was 87 degrees Fahrenheit (31 Celsius) at 1:30 p.m. and was forecast to hit 89 degrees by the end of the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The high Friday is expected to be 89 degrees, too.
“We have gone into a summer pattern, and it's going to have pretty good staying power,'' said Jim Rouiller chief meteorologist at the Energy Weather Group. “All the models are exceeding the 10-year normal and that's the first time this year that has happened.''
With many cities in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and South falling under heat's sway, power and natural gas use is sure to rise, Rouiller said by telephone.
“Summer has finally arrived in the consuming east,” Rouiller said. “It is going to create really high demand.''
To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.net;Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan
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