US sees record power demands during heat wave

An extreme heat wave that’s now moved into the northeastern US and Canada pushed electricity demand to its highest level ever in the Midwest and eastern states, although the grid has so far remained stable.

The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) reported that electricity demand in its 12-state market area reached 103,975 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday, beating the previous record of 103,246 MW set on July 31, 2006.

“Although demand is high and supply is tight, the transmission system remains stable,” said Richard Doying, MISO’s vice president of operations. “We do not anticipate calling for any consumer action to reduce demand.”

Grid operator PJM Interconnection also reported a new record for electricity demand, reaching peak power use of 158,450 MW on Thursday afternoon. Its previous demand record was 158,258 MW on August 2, 2006. Implementing demand response to manage loads this week, though, was not necessary.

“Our efforts in fine-tuning how we forecast electricity demand and plan transmission improvements are paying big dividends for our system operations,” said Michael Kormos, senior vice president of operators for PJM.

Despite the assurances from MISO and PJM, a number of US utilities did issue statements this week urging customers to try and conserve electricity and avoid unnecessary consumption. As the heat wave moved eastward, so too did concern among utilities about controlling electricity demand and exercising hot-weather safety precautions.