Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Province wide cold snap leads to record-breaking electricity demand



British Columbians set a new record for energy consumption on Monday with BC Hydro noting that 10,302 megawatts of hydro electric power were used across the frozen tundra of the province, topping the record of 10,194 set on January 3rd of 2017.

In an information statement released this morning, BC Hydro observed that the peak load on Monday was 16 percent higher than that which was realized last week, with the power usage shooting upwards when British Columbians come home and turn up the heat and attend to their home duties and pursuits.

As the Deep Freeze continues and is expected to remain in place for much of this week across the province, BC Hydro has a few suggestions to manage your electricity around the home.

Setting thermostat at an ideal temperature based on time of day can help reduce wasted electricity: 

16 degrees Celsius when sleeping or away from home; 
21 degrees Celsius when relaxing, watching TV; 
and, 18 degrees Celsius when doing housework or cleaning. 

Avoid cranking up the thermostat – cranking up the thermostat does not heat the home up faster than turning it up a degree or two at a time. 

Draft proofing around windows and doors to reduce heat loss by 10 per cent.

Some areas are coping better with the winter weather than others, last night we noted that BC Hydro had issued an advisory for residents of Haida Gwaii to conserve their power outages, that owing to concerns of overloading the system on the Islands, which could lead to power outages.

BC Hydro anticipates the demand to continue to be high, with peak loads of between 9,800 and 10,600 megawatts for the duration of the cold snap.

For more notes on BC Hydro across the Northwest see our archive page here.

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