File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Hot Hot Heat

Air conditioning demand taxes B.C. Hydro grid

Jun 28, 2021 | 1:02 PM

KAMLOOPS — As the B.C. Interior experiences record-breaking heat this week, B.C. Hydro is confident its grid can hold up to the increased demand.

Spokesperson Jen Walker-Larsen says the Crown utility expects it will continue to set summertime load records throughout the week.

“We are expecting to break another record tonight,” Walker-Larsen told CFJC Today. “We’re expecting that our peak hourly electricity demand could be 8,300 megawatts. This is pretty high for the summertime.”

What gives B.C. Hydro confidence that its network will withstand the demand of non-stop air conditioning, according to Walker-Larsen, is the fact that winter demand is higher than summer.

“In B.C., our peak demand loads are seen in the winter when everybody’s running electric heat and a lot of appliances and lighting,” she said. “It’s usually about 20 per cent higher (in the winter).”

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With 40-degree-or-higher temperatures this week, an extended outage could be catastrophic. Walker-Larsen says unplanned outages cannot be predicted, but planned outages are being put off.

“We do have routine, scheduled work around the province that we schedule planned outages for. We have taken a look at all of these upcoming planned outages and moved a lot of them,” she said.

The B.C. Interior regularly experiences extreme heat in the summer, so many homes are already equipped with central air conditioning. For those that are not, there are several measures homeowners can take to keep as cool as possible.

Walker-Larsen says those include using fans and high-efficiency portable air conditioning units.

“Close drapes and blinds on your windows,” she added. “This can cut out 65 per cent of the heat that’s coming in through your windows. Shutting your doors and windows if the temperature is higher outside than inside makes a big difference.”

“If you can not use your stovetop and your oven, maybe move your cooking outdoors to the barbecue. I’ve even brought a camping stove out on my deck before to do some cooking. Those kitchen appliances really throw off a lot of heat.”

Environment Canada is now calling for mid-40s temperatures into Wednesday, after which the area may get a slight reprieve into the high 30s.