Hydro Demand High
Prince George, B.C. – BCHydro says demand for electricity jumped last evening to 9,581 megawatts between 5 and 6 p.m..
While that’s nearly 1,000 megawatts higher than last Monday’s peak demand of 8,612 megawatts it is still below the record that was set in November of 2006 when 10,113 megawatts of electricity was used.
BCHydro says it expects demand to remain higher than normal until temperatures start to rise later this week.
The actual usage comparison for the Northern Interior is not yet available, but with low temperatures hovering around -30 for the weekend and into yesterday, it is expected that usage will also be much higher than the norm.
Sunday evening, electricity demand peaked at 9,346 megawatts, a full 1,550 megawatts higher than the peak demand recorded on the previous Sunday.
According to BC Hydro, you would have to run three of the four turbines at the Mica Generating station at maximum capacity to create the power to handle the increase.
The highest hourly peak demand ever was recorded on Nov. 29, 2006, when consumption reached 10,113 megawatts between 5 and 6 p.m.
Comments
Better get started on Site C.
So what else is new. The demand increases every fall and through the winter. Just check you Hydro biil.
Cheers
Get ready for surcharges during peak periods. The new Smart Meters can break down consumer consumption by the time ! Another tax grab in the making !
Maybe you will cook and do the laundry after peak hours then eh boon? That’s if they ever get approval to start doing that.
532 Megawatts less than the high of 10,113 megawatts in 2006, so no need for Site C. Seems we are using less Hydro, not more.
Generation is not built to match load, a reserve is required in case of a major plant or transmission line outage. Hydro has stated that site c is required to back up Independent Power Producers none firm power. From planning to operation it can take ten years to have a major generation plant built. Not wise to wait until the power is needed before building. Naysayers said each time major generation was built it was not needed, well how did that work out?
If we kept the electricity in BC our cost would be very cheap, but if course our government sells it out of country and so we get charged more. Wasn’t the plan when the dams where first built but greed takes over all the time.
P Val that does not make any sense. If hydro has water reserves in excess of its needs why not sell it instead of possibly spilling it and wasting revenue. Also hydro buys cheap power at night reducing our water usage therefor putting energy in the bank and then selling that stored energy at a higher rate the next day.
If people have the option to only buy expensive inefficient solar, wind power, IPP hydro power, then I should have the option of buying cheap Hydro hydro electric power.
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