Saskatchewan sets record for peak power use

There must be something about Dec. 29 in Saskatchewan.

On Wednesday at 5:27 p.m., homes and businesses in the province were using 3,868 megawatts (MW) of power to deal with the cold weather, setting a record for all-time peak power use in Saskatchewan.

The previous record of 3,792 MW was set four years earlier to the day, on Dec. 29, 2017.

According to SaskPower, the 76 MW difference is the equivalent power use of around 76,000 homes.

Saskatchewan also broke the summer record this year with a peak load of 3,543 MW on June 30.

“SaskPower continues to see an increase in power demand in Saskatchewan as we add new customers to our grid,” Kory Hayko, the vice-president of transmission and industrial services at SaskPower, said in a media release.

“We are committed to meeting the demands of this growth by investing in our generation infrastructure to ensure safe, reliable, and cost-effective power for Saskatchewan.”

The Crown corporation said it plans to expand its generation capacity from current levels of around 5,000 MW to 7,000 MW by 2030. It hopes to do so while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent from 2005 levels.

SaskPower offered some suggestions to customers to save power and save money during cold weather. Those include:

• Turning down the thermostat when no one is home or investing in a smart thermostat to ensure heat is only used when needed. Customers can save up to two per cent on their heating costs by lowering their household temperature one degree overnight;
• Utilizing timers for their block heaters. Cars only need to be plugged in for four hours to realize the benefit of a block heater; and,
• Investing in LED lightbulbs around the house. They use about one quarter the power of traditional incandescent bulbs.