The City of Medicine Hat's power plant (photo by Colton McKee)

By Charles Lefebvre

Electric generation

City’s electric utility expecting increased use during warm weather

Jul 31, 2019 | 5:03 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — with potential record-breaking temperatures in the forecast in the next several days, the City’s electric utility says it is ready to handle any extra demand on the electric generation system.

“Our historic load in the city is always higher in the summer time, that’s our peak loading,” said Brian Strandlund, general manager of electric generation with the city. “Currently, we run around 160 megawatts total load, and we actually get up to 210, 215 megawatts of use in the city.”

The record for electricity generation was set last year in Medicine Hat, where 214.5 megawatts were generated in June. Environment Canada is forecasting a high of 36 degrees for Medicine Hat on Friday.

Strandlund says more air conditioner use is one of the primary reasons for the additional electricity generated in the summer.

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Strandlund says the city does a lot of work to ensure the electric generation remains stable in the summer.

“We do any required maintenance during the off-hours, the off-peak hours, so at night time we do some required maintenance or in the morning when the peak arises,” he said. “We defer any maintenance out of the months of July and August as much as we can, because that’s our peak load, and we want to make sure all of our units are available.”

Strandlund adds the city has enough capacity in case a generator fails to ensure electricity service can remain in place.

Peak hours of use are between 5 and 7 p.m., and Strandlund says using less electricity during those times can help reduce the load on the plant.

“Air conditioning loads are the largest that we have, and that’s what drives our peak load up,” he said. “So if there is a chance to offset, to reduce power during those times, it would be best.”