Heat Wave Vs Power Supply
Braced for record energy demand in the face of a regional heat wave, electric utilities from Maine to Virginia breezed on Tuesday through a second straight day of heavy air conditioning as the hot, muggy weather failed to materialize in some areas.
"It is hot out there, but not as hot or humid as was forecast. There's rain over some parts of the region and cloud cover over other parts," said Ray Dotter of PJM, which runs the power grid for more than 25 million people in seven Mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C.
A band of rain showers can dramatically knock down energy use in a matter of minutes, easing the strain on the grid on hot afternoons when air conditioners account for up to a third of all electricity demand.
Meteorologists had warned the mercury would rise to 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit — from Boston to Washington, with a heat index, which combines the effect of the heat and humidity, making it feel like 100-110 F.
But temperatures failed to push past 95 degrees in the big East Coast cities and a weak cold front blew much of the humidity out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Other than a few scattered outages, none of the region's utilities reported any problems delivering power to customers.
Even Consolidated Edison Inc. in New York City managed to keep up with power demand despite an emergency outage at the Astoria station, the city's biggest power plant.
"It's less humid than Monday and a little breezy, but it's still hot in the sun. We have only a few scattered outages and are not expected to set a new peak load on Tuesday," said Mike Clendenin Consolidated Edison, which serves 9 million people in the New York metropolitan area.
The overseer of New York state's power grid said electricity supply was exceeding demand, but barely. The New York State Independent System Operator reported statewide usage of over 29,000 megawatts during the late afternoon peak period. The single-day record is 30,983 megawatts, set on Aug. 9, 2001.
"It's very tight today. We're curtailing any exports we may have to other regions," said NYISO Vice President Carol Murphy.
With hot weather expected to continue, Murphy said supply could remain tight in the coming days.
After the Mid-Atlantic states racked up record high power demand Monday, grid operators in New York, New England and the Mid-Atlantic states predicted even hotter weather Tuesday would quickly establish new records.
But utilities got the call out to customers early to conserve energy and took other steps -- such as paying some customers to cut their energy use -- to ease the load on the grid and keep power prices from skyrocketing.
Some customers, like the New York University hospital in New York City, canceled nonessential medical procedures using CT scanners and magnetic resonance imaging devices, both heavy users of electricity.
"Loads are still high and it's still hot, but the combination of energy conservation and lower than forecast heat and humidity has kept energy usage below forecasts," said Ray Dotter of PJM.
Even though meteorologists are calling for relatively low humidity for the rest of the week, they said temperatures from New York City to Washington will likely remain in the low- to mid-90s F — through the weekend.