Saskatchewan residents are being reminded to conserve power and save money as the winter weather has resulted in record highs for power usage.
With a week of extreme cold warnings came yet another new peak in power consumption for Saskatchewan, said a release from SaskPower. At 5:51 p.m. on January 13, Saskatchewan homes and businesses used power equalling 3,747 megawatts.
The previous record of 3,726 megawatts was reached on December 16, which beat out the 3,710 megawatt record set only four days earlier. The record has increased by 37 megawatts in the past month, which is enough power for 37,000 homes. New peak records have only been set 11 times in the past decade.
“We’ve become used to seeing this record beaten every winter as Saskatchewan grows. “With new technology, we’re also seeing each household and business use more power,” said Mike Marsh, president and CEO of SaskPower. “We’ve never seen new peak load records being set several times in a month. That’s why it’s so crucial that we keep updating and growing our power grid. We need to make sure our customers have the power they need when they need it.”
Future records should be met by renewable sources as SaskPower plans to double its renewable capacity from 25 per cent to as much as 50 per cent by 2030. Growing demand will also be met by baseload power sources such as the new Chinook Natural Gas Power Station to be built near Swift Current, which will bring 350 megawatts into service by 2020 and will provide power 24 hours a day, seven days a week to allow the growth of intermittent sources like wind and solar.
In extreme temperatures, SaskPower’s customers are reminded to conserve power where possible in order to save on power bills.
Turn down the thermostat, especially when no one is home. Changing the temperature of one’s home by even a few degrees can make a big difference. For every degree a homeowner lowers his or her thermostat overnight for an eight-hour period, he or she can save up to two per cent on heating costs.
Plug in cars with a timer. Most vehicles only need to be plugged in for four hours. Use a block heater timer to save around $25 a year.
Turn off the lights. Shorter days and longer nights mean interior lights in homes are on longer, so homeowners are reminded to turn out the lights when they leave a room. Better yet, cut down the power lightbulbs use by about three quarters by using LED bulbs.
