By Ashley Legassic

Hydro usage up as cold snap hits the province

Feb 5, 2019 | 7:58 AM

VANCOUVER — Electricity demand spiked across the province as the first cold snap of 2019 hit.

BC Hydro says in a news release that the demand increased by an average of 13 per cent on February 3 and 4, compared to the same days last week.

With colder than normal temperatures forecast over the next few days, the demand for electricity is expected to remain high this week, and BC Hydro is preparing for near record-breaking usage.

In Kamloops, temperatures aren’t expected to rise to the single-digit negatives until Thursday (Feb. 7).

BC Hydro is forecasting peak hourly demands in the range of 9,600 megawatts to 10,000 megawatts. The highest hourly peak demand was on Jan. 3, 2017 when consumption reached 10,194 megawatts.

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The highest demand for power is between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekday evenings in the winter months — the time period when people come home, turn up the heat, switch on the lights and make dinner.

To offset additional heating requirements, BC Hydro recommends:

• Keeping the thermostat at the ideal temperature: The thermostat should be set at 16 C when away from home or sleeping, 18 degrees C when cooking or doing housework and 21 degrees C when relaxing at home.
• Installing draftproofing: Gaps and cracks around doors and windows let cold air into the home and warm air out. Draftproofing can reduce heat loss by up to 10 per cent.
• Closing curtains, blinds and drapes: This can provide an extra level of insulation to reduce cold drafts from entering the home through windows.

The City of Kamloops and FortisBC recently partnered with the Thompson-Nicola Regional Library so residents can borrow a thermal imaging camera to identify drafts in their homes.