LIPA Urges More Residential Conservation as Region Enters 3rd Day of Heat
Wave
High Electric Use During Evening Hours Sets New Trend
Residential Demand Growing Significantly
Uniondale, NY – August 3, 2006 – With Long Island setting new
peak-demand and 24-hour electric use records during the current multi-day heat
wave, a new electricity use pattern seems to be developing. Residential electric
use after 6PM is soaring and well into the night.
While the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) set an official peak-hour
summer-demand record yesterday of 5730 megawatts (MW), and a 24-hour use record
of 113,951 megawatts hours (MWHR), during the last two days the hourly demand
for electricity remained above 5000 MWs until after 10PM. That’s a new energy
demand trend on Long Island which underscores the fact that residential electric
use – even during periods when conservation is being stressed – continues to
grow at unprecedented levels.
“Long Islanders are consuming electric power at unprecedented levels,” said
LIPA Chairman Richard M. Kessel.
“We’ve been able to meet demand during the current heat wave with more than
1,100 megawatts of new supply we’ve added in four years. And we have the Neptune
cable and Caithness plant due on line over the next few years. But I’m seriously
concerned that we will not be able to add new supplies fast enough in the years
beyond 2008 to keep up with soaring demand,” said Mr. Kessel.
Unprecedented Demand Growth
To underscore his point, Mr. Kessel noted that yesterday’s new peak-hour
record of 5730 MWs beat last year’s peak-hour of 5267 by 463 MWs – the largest
year-to-year increase in peak-hour demand in Long Island’s history.
Mr. Kessel also noted that yesterday’s 24-hour electric demand record of
113,951 MWHRs beat last year’s 24-hour demand record of 98,216 MWHR by 15,216
MWHs, which is another historic increase.
“These record numbers underscore that Long Islander’s want their electricity
and they want more and more every year,” said Mr. Kessel. “It’s almost
impossible to predict when this kind of unprecedented demand will begin to ease
off or top out.”
Need To Address New Trend
To address the new trend of significantly increased electric demand after 6PM
during heat waves, Mr. Kessel indicated that he’s initiating the development of
a program – “Nighttime is The Right Time to Conserve” – that can be implemented
next summer that seeks to get more residential customers to conserve electricity
when they get home from work or a summer day’s activities.
“The commercial and residential sectors have been responding well during the
day to respond to our appeals to conserve when we’re in a non-emergency
situation,” said Mr. Kessel. “But during the post-6PM hours we’re seeing a trend
of exceptionally high demand. We must do something about this.”
Residential customers can do more during the post-6PM hours to conserve
energy to help reduce overnight stress on LIPA’s electric system, Mr. Kessel
noted.
“Lowering evening hour electric use will reduce heat-related outages, and
will help reduce the starting point for electric demand and outages as the next
day of a multi-day heat wave event begins,” said Mr. Kessel.
“We can all do more to save at home,” said Mr. Kessel. “In addition to
helping to reduce heat-related outages on distribution circuits that serve
residential areas, consumers will save money,”
Demand Forecast for August 3, 2006
LIPA projects a peak-hour electric demand for today of approximately 5500 MWs
for the hour ending at 5PM, with an available electric supply of nearly 6200 MWs.
While the 5500 MW peak will not set a new record, it is a demand level that
beats the peak record set on July 18 of this year of 5427, and goes well past
last year’s summer peak record of 5267 MWs.
“Not long ago passing the 4000 MW level was record setting,” said Mr. Kessel.
“Now we pass the 5000 MW level almost as a matter of routine.”
Two-Day Outage Summary
Some 62,216 lost power for a time yesterday. This number includes the loss of
24,193 customers for about ten minutes as a result of problems at the Bellmore
substation. For the two-day heat storm event, a total of 91,016 have experienced
an interruption. The average restoration time over the last two days has been
5.5 hours
Approximately 1,000 field personnel have been working in rotating, and in
some cases overlapping, 16-hour shifts to make repairs in record setting heat
and humidity.
“The crews have been doing a fantastic job under extremely difficult
conditions to make repairs as soon as possible,” said Mr. Kessel. “They are
highly skilled and dedicated, and work long hours to keep LIPA customers in
service and to return them to service quickly during these kinds of
extraordinary events.”
Conservation Urged
As Long Island enters the third day of the current heat wave, LIPA continues to
urge customers to:
- Eliminating all non-essential electric use;
- Placing air conditioners on timers, don't let them run when not at home;
- Setting air conditioners at 78 degrees;
- Using fans to circulate cool air, which will help cut air conditioner
use;
- Setting refrigerators and freezers at most efficient temperatures; and
- Running appliances such as clothes washers, dryers and dishwashers in
the early morning or late evening to avoid the peak afternoon demand hours.
High temperatures and high electric demand can sometimes cause scattered
heat-related outages. LIPA advises that conserving electricity will help reduce
the potential for outages. Customers who experience an outage should call 1-800-
490-0075.
Additional energy conservation tips can be obtained from LIPA's Web site,
www.lipower.org, or by calling its Infoline at 1-800-692-2626. |
