Mayor Zohran Mamdani urges New York City residents to set air conditioners to 78 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent the power grid from overloading as daytime temperatures approach triple digits.The Department of Energy has authorized backup generation orders and Con Edison activated its Emergency Response Center while the city limits public buildings to 78 degrees, dims lights and powers down nonessential equipment to stabilize supply.Con Edison asks residents to conserve electricity during peak hours from 2pm to 10pm, to charge electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles after 10pm and to unplug unused devices, and cooling centers are open for vulnerable people.The plea has drawn partisan criticism from Republican figures including
Lindsey Graham,
Ted Cruz and
Nikki Haley and social media backlash, though city officials and energy experts say the guideline mirrors past administrations and aims to prevent outages and heat illnesses.