How are power
companies keeping up with the surge to stay cool as people crank up the air conditioning during
the hottest day of the heat wave? PSE&G says crews are at the ready should any systems go down.
"We
went into storm mode essentially; we already have on hand all the materials, we need to respond to any outages that are associated
with extreme heat," says spokesperson Rebecca Mazzarella.
It gets especially
hot in cities during heat waves. The
National Weather Service says that's because the dark pavement and tall
buildings absorb heat and can hold onto it well after the sun goes down.
To save money
and make sure systems don't get overwhelmed, Mazzarella says to turn the AC up
to the highest comfortable temperature.
"We recommend 78, we know that's a bit high
for some people, but to save some money, if customers can raise it even just
one degree, they could see a savings of 3-5% off the use of that appliance,”
says Mazzarella.
Crews will be on
standby to make sure people have reliable access to their AC.