It's been a tough week of hot weather and there's more to come next week.

A peak demand for electicity was met on Thursday with a usage of 10,852 MegaWatts between the hours of 4pm and 5pm.

Communications Advisor with  Alberta Electricity System Operator (AESO), Erin Powell, says, "We had a few generators down for maintenance so we imported a some power from B.C. and that helped us out a lot and then the wind picked up yesterday, which also helped us out."

AESO has some tips for cutting back on energy use during the extended heat wave.

Turn off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances, Minimize the use of air conditioning by closing blinds and curtains and DELAY THE USE OF MAJOR power-consuming appliances such as washers, dryers and dishwashers until after the peak hours of 5pm–7pm.

Use cold water for washing clothes and only run full loads.

Cook with your BBQ, microwave, crock pot or toaster oven instead of the stove to keep your home cooler, limit the use of kitchen or bathroom ventilation fans, use motion detector lights in storage areas, garages, and outdoors and work on a laptop instead of a desktop computer – laptops are more energy efficient.

 

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