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Electricity in NYC!

Directions: Read the article below and answer the questions at the end.

Consumption

The city consumes a lot of electricity each day! At itspeak, during summer months, NYC on average uses11, 000 megawatts of electricity. One megawattrepresents the amount need to power 1,000 homes.That puts on the level of consumption of entire coun-

tries, slightly more than Chile and Portugal!

But while New York City as a whole consumes a lotof electricity, New Yorkers are pretty good at keeping

their energy consumption down. The average New Yorker consumes about 2,000 killowatt hours per year (Americans on average consume 4,000 kw-h/ year). The average New York City apartment or homeuses on average 300 kw-h/month.

The demand for electricity in New York City is growing!Over the last 5 years peak demand within the city hasgrown 1-2 percent a year, thats 800 extra mega-watts! The city uses so much energy because we havea lot of tall buildings, which require energy intensiveelevators and we rely on subways, which are pow-ered by electricity. But more importantly our appetitefor things like air conditioners, appliances and otherelectronics has increased almost 56 percent in only 8

years!

GenerationAt its simplest electricity production relies on therotation of a turbine a large shaft with blades at a

power plant. What forces the turbine to turn is steam that is heated up in large furnaces. The furnaces in the citys powerplant are powered by fossil fuels: natu-ral gas and fuel oil. The turbine is connected to a longshaft of magnets surrounded by copper wire. When

the rotation of magnets against the copper generateselectricity.

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New York City

Number of Consumers

Electricity UsageMegawatt hours

11,637,167

2,661,874

u renewable energyEducation at Solar One

Steam rotates a shaft connected to a generator

Coils of copper wireand magnets spin inopposition

Electricity is createdby the spinning turbine

Turbine

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GenerationEighty percent of the electricity produced for New York City must be produced within the ve boroughs. Thereare now 23 powerplants within the city limits. The fourin Queens account for roughly half of the energy out-put in the city and the remainder are spread acrossStaten Island, the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn.But not all of the citys power is produced within the5 boroughs. Indian Point, a nucleur power plant inWestchester County produces up to 20 percent ofour demand.

How Much Power?Largest Power Plant Capacity - 100 MegawattsSummer Peak - 11,000 MegawattsAverage NYC Home - 300 Kw

What About the Rest?The New York Power Authoritys Marcy substationin upstate New York transforms hydropower comingfrom Canada. A transmission line passes throughAlbany, winds it way toward New York City via theCatskills.

Electricity Vocab

Current: the ow of electrons through the wire. Voltage: the force behind the current or how hard the electrons are being pushed.Watt: A basic measure of how much work theelectricity can do.Alternating Current: the current and voltageof electricity move in back and forth pulses.Direct Current: A direct ow of electricity

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Discussion1. How is electricity made in NYC?2. How much electricity does a New Yorker use on aver-age per month?3. How do we measure energy use?4. Where is the biggest power plant in NYC?

Electricity in NYC!~ u renewable energyEducation at Solar One