Temperatures rise faster than power consumption in Nova Scotia
Posted Jul 19, 2010 03:53:36 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Electrical utilities in parts of the country are seeing spikes in energy usage because of the hot, muggy weather. But that doesn’t seem to be as big an issue for Nova Scotia Power.
This week, New York started opening cooling centers and the city of Hamilton started extending the hours of outdoor public pools to help people deal with the hot, muggy weather.
Ontario and Quebec came close to record electrical consumption as air conditioners were switched on by people and businesses looking to beat the heat. Experts suggest the downturn in the Ontario manufacturing sector may be the only thing keeping them from overloading the system.
The massive black-out in August 2003 that plunged millions into darkness was blamed in part by stress on the power grid during a heat wave and sizzling economy. Since then, the utilities have worked to help people conserve energy to limit the drain on the power system.
Officials with Nova Scotia Power say they’ve seen a small, incremental increase in usage here during this latest round of hot and humid weather.
Patty Faith says we won’t see the large spikes like they are seeing in southern Ontario for a couple of reasons. She says we don’t have as many houses with air conditioning as they do. And she adds we can take advantage of the cooler nights to open our windows and cool our homes down.
She had a few suggestions for dealing with the heat such as closing their blinds or curtains during the day to keep things cooler. And Faith suggests using ceiling or portable fans as opposed to higher energy-consuming air conditioning units.
