Heat wave sends electricity demand soaring
Posted Jul 2, 2013 11:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Hot temperatures pushed Alberta’s demand for electricity beyond what it could deliver Tuesday, so the power regulator ordered some utility companies to use less, causing rolling blackouts.
EPCOR in Edmonton and the city of Lethbridge cut power to certain areas for up to an hour after the Alberta Electric System Operator ordered them to shed 100 megawatts of demand.
The operator says flood-affected areas, such as Calgary and High River, as well as hospital and emergency services did not have to reduce power load.
AESO says the record demand is due to a number of factors, including temperatures higher than 30 degrees across the province.
It also says other factors include a number of generators being offline for maintenance, a transformer unexpectedly went out of service and wind generation was low.
The operator says it has been importing electricity from B.C. and Saskatchewan to help meet demand.
The order to cut back on power was lifted just before 6 pm.
