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City to fund $800,000 subway cooling study

8/15/2026

27 2 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul announced an $800,000 study of an energy network to cool subway stations.
The study will evaluate cooling at Chambers Street and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stations and project energy savings.
The contract will be awarded this fall.
Design could start in 2027 if geothermal storage works.
The system would use water pipes and heat pumps to move heat to geothermal boreholes for municipal heating.

History

Historical Context

New York’s district-heating roots trace back to Con Edison’s steam service launched in 1882, which today supplies over 1,700 Manhattan customers. The 2022 Utility Thermal Energy Network and Jobs Act then created a regulatory path for shared geothermal loops, and July 2024 PSC rules formalized it. Building on that framework, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul propose an $800,000 subway-cooling study.

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Story summary

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul announced an $800,000 study of an energy network to cool subway stations.
The study will evaluate cooling at Chambers Street and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stations and project energy savings.
The contract will be awarded this fall.
Design could start in 2027 if geothermal storage works.
The system would use water pipes and heat pumps to move heat to geothermal boreholes for municipal heating.

1 / 2