By Ashley Legassic

Cold snap leads to record-setting hydro usage

Feb 12, 2019 | 12:58 PM

VANCOUVER — BC Hydro has set a record for the highest February peak hourly demand, when the demand for electricity soared to more than 10,000 megawatts on Monday evening.

The previous February record for peak hourly demand of 9,795 megawatts set on February 8, 2017 has been broken twice in the recent cold snap, according to BC Hydro.

The first time was Sunday night when peak hourly demand reached 9,848 megawatts. That’s a 22 per cent increase over the same day two weeks ago, before temperatures plummeted.

The new February record set on Monday evening of 10,050 megawatts is just shy of the all-time record of 10,194 megawatts set on January 3, 2017.

Since the cold snap began earlier this month, there’s been a surge in electricity use. The use is highest between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on weekday evenings.

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