With the Okanagan in the middle of a heat wave and air conditioners running on high, FortisBC is seeing a spike in demand.
“We hit a new summer peak load on our electric system of 615 megawatts on July 16, higher than our previous summer peak load of 601 megawatts from August 5, 2014,” FortisBC said in a news release.
A megawatt is the equivalent of 1,000,000 watts.
FortisBC said that by comparison, last year’s summer peak was on July 6 when power consumption peaked at 593 megawatts.
Despite the increase, FortisBC said it should be able to handle the extra demand.
“Because of the upgrades we’ve completed over the years, especially in Kelowna and the South Okanagan, we’re confident our system will deliver the electricity our customers are relying on, even as the temperatures spike.”
Temperatures in the Okanagan are expected to gradually decline as the weekend approaches with highs in the mid-20’s.