By Charles Lefebvre

Power plant usage up this week due to high temperatures

Jul 6, 2017 | 3:18 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The City of Medicine Hat says it’s equipped to handle an increase in power consumption this summer.

With the region under a heat advisory which could last well into next week, power usage at the city’s power plant has gone up.

“We typically run around 130 and now we’re up around 160 megawatts on a daily average for the high points,” said Brian Strandlund, manager of electricity generation with the city.

“All of the air-conditioning loads for the city, our peak loads are always in the summertime.”

Young minds, big ideas: Elementary students learn about urban planning with 'Box City'

7h ago

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

Apr 18, 2024

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

While the numbers are high, they still fall short of the record usage set in August 2015. The city recorded a high of 175 megawatts, on a day where the temperatures hit a high of 38 degrees Celcius.

With temperatures expected to reach a high of 37 degrees Celcius on Saturday, it is expected the total megawatts will stay at a high level. However, Strandlund says the city’s power plant is ready to handle the high levels.

“We have excess capacity n case we have the loss of a generator,” he said. “We have a 192 megawatt load that we can provide to the city.”

“Our max so far has been 175. We can bring in around 26 megawatts from the provincial tie as well.”

Strandlund says residents can also help reduce the amount of electricity generated by the city by limiting their use in peak hours, which are from 7-9 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. daily. He advises Hatters to not do laundry or run their dishwasher, for example, during those peak hours.