Con Edison on NOVA’s The Hidden City

Behind the lights of NYC is the hidden city of vast systems that keep New York alive.
www.coned.com/...
Beneath the streets are 80,000 miles of electric cables that power homes and businesses. The city relies on 4 systems, power, water, sewage and trash. Behind your wires, are 10 electric generation stations, all operated by Con Edison.
It takes energy to make energy, by burning fossil fuels. Inside a facility, 6 turbine generators turn out electricity 24/7. They’re driven by giant boilers that are 8 stories high, as big as some buildings.
Back in the day, boilers didn’t have instruments to help measure levels. Employees would have to rely on the sounds the boilers made and by visual cues. There was no automation or control rooms. As technology progressed, control rooms became equipped with televisions and control monitors, and plants were operated with remote control. Even with technology advancements, no automation is 100% perfect, which is why employees still monitor the control rooms
In the boiler rooms, the temperatures can reach up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The higher in the room you go, the hotter it gets.
Fires heat the 200 miles of water filled piles that line the boiler walls. Steam from the pipes is channeled through the blades of a turbine attached to a generator. In the generator, magnets revolve. Electrons inside the wires are pushed along by the magnetic field, and produce a current of electricity.
Take a look into one of New York’s nuclear power plants. All of the fuel used in the plant since that first day of operation is still being used, and is stored in a pool with 25 ft of water as a shield. At the time, nuclear plants supplied about 25% of New York’s power.
Learn more about Con Edison’s history and facts on our website:
www.coned.com/...