PSEG Long Island Offers Energy Saving Tips to Handle the Heat

Company expects to have sufficient electrical capacity to meet customer demand

(UNIONDALE, N.Y. – July 29, 2025)  With a heat advisory in effect for most of Long Island and the Rockaways through Wednesday night, PSEG Long Island is activating its voluntary Smart Savers thermostat program today, July 29, and offering energy efficiency tips to help customers lower their bills. 

PSEG Long Island expects to have the power required to meet customer demand during this heatwave. 

How to save energy and money during the heat
PSEG Long Island encourages customers to follow these tips to help manage their electrical costs during extreme heat:

• Turn off all nonessential electronics and appliances.
• Set home thermostats or air conditioner units to 78 degrees.
• Run major appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers and pool pumps, in the morning or late evening to avoid the peak demand hours of 2 PM to 8 PM.
• Set refrigerators and freezers at most-efficient temperatures.
• Do not cool an empty house. Set your thermostat higher when you are away, or use a smart thermostat to control the temperature in your home. 
• Commercial and residential customers may sign up for the Peak Load Rewards program. Visit psegliny.com/saveenergyandmoney/GreenEnergy/PeakLoad for more details.
• Close blinds and window coverings facing the sun to keep out the sun’s heat.
• Ceiling fans cool fast and cost less than air conditioning. (In hot weather, set ceiling fans to spin quickly, counterclockwise to push air downward.)
• Seal holes and cracks around doors and windows with caulk or weather-stripping.
• Replace old appliances with new energy efficient ENERGY STAR® appliances. 
• Replace air filters monthly. Dirty filters make your air conditioner work harder.
• Charge electric vehicles overnight. 
  

Smart Savers thermostat program
PSEG Long Island is activating the voluntary Smart Savers Thermostat Program to reduce loading on the system by automatically adjusting the thermostats of residential customers who have chosen to participate. Activating the program will also help save money next year by reducing the amount of required electrical capacity purchased in advance. 

“PSEG Long Island is committed to providing safe, reliable electric service, and we are prepared for this multi-day period of extreme heat. Our Smart Savers thermostat program is a voluntary program available to residential customers with smart thermostats. Customers enrolled in this program save money, and are also helping everyone in the service area by allowing us to reduce the overall peak demand on some of the hottest days.”

-  Michael Voltz, Director of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, PSEG Long Island

Here’s how it works: 
On Tuesday, July 29, at 3:30 PM, which is 30 minutes prior to the activation, enrolled customers’ homes will be pre-cooled by 3 degrees for 30 minutes, then their thermostats will be raised by 4 degrees from 4-7 PM. In exchange, these customers receive a discount on their electric bills.

More than 40,000 customers have enrolled in the program. To learn more and join the program, customers can visit: enrollmythermostat.com/faqs/pseg-long-island-faq/

The Smart Savers program is dispatched for economic and load reduction purposes. Each year, PSEG Long Island must pre-purchase the electricity it will need to provide power to its customers for the following year, especially in the more demanding summer months. That capacity is estimated based on the previous year’s usage. When Smart Savers is implemented, it reduces the amount of overall energy being used, which reduces the amount of electricity needed to be purchased for the following summer period. That translates into future savings for all customers.

Activating the Smart Savers Thermostat program also allows PSEG Long Island to maintain an up-to-date assessment of the program’s capability to reduce demand on the hottest days of the year, or “peak load” days.

PSEG Long Island will also be activating its Commercial System Relief/Distribution Load Relief programs to reduce loading on the system and create future savings for customers. Some 840 commercial customers enrolled in this voluntary program will be asked to provide their contracted load relief today by either switching to generators or shutting off equipment or air conditioning.

Prepared for potential outages:
High temperatures, thunderstorms and high electric demand can sometimes cause scattered outages. PSEG Long Island has personnel available around the clock to address potential outages during this forecasted heatwave safely and as quickly as possible. 

Stay connected:

• Download the PSEG Long Island mobile app to report outages and receive information on restoration times, crew locations and more. 
• Report an outage and receive status updates by texting OUT to PSEGLI (773454). You can also report your outage through our app or our website at psegliny.com/outages. 
• To report an outage or downed wire, you can also call PSEG Long Island’s 24-hour Electric Service number at 800-490-0075.  
• Follow PSEG Long Island on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) to report an outage and for updates before, during and after the storm.
• Visit PSEG Long Island’s MyPower map for the latest in outage info, restoration times and crew locations across Long Island and the Rockaways at mypowermap.psegliny.com/.   

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PSEG Long Island
PSEG Long Island operates the Long Island Power Authority’s transmission and distribution system under a long-term contract.  PSEG Long Island is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) (NYSE:PEG), a publicly traded diversified energy company.