SaskPower has reported that Saskatchewan residents consumed 3,868 megawatts (MW) of power on Dec. 29 at precisely 5:27 p.m. — a new record.
In the past week, Western provinces have seen extreme cold weather conditions, which resulted in high power consumption in homes and businesses.
SaskPower states the previous record of 3,792 MW was reached four years ago on Dec. 29, 2017. It says the record was beaten by 76 MW, or the equivalent power use of approximately 76,000 homes.
“SaskPower continues to see an increase in power demand in Saskatchewan as we add new customers to our grid,” Kory Hayko, 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.”
SaskPower states it plans to expand its generation capacity from approximately 5,000 MW now to 7,000 MW by 2030 while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent from 2005 levels in order to meet growing power demand.
SaskPower encourages its customers to take the following steps to save power and money on their bills, especially during extreme cold temperatures:
- Turn down the thermostat when no one is home or consider investing in a smart thermostat to ensure heat is only being used when it’s needed. (Customers could save up to two per cent on their heating costs simply by lowering their household temperature one degree overnight.)
- Use a timer for your block heater – cars only need to be plugged in for four hours to realize the benefit of a block heater.
- Invest in LED lightbulbs around the house. LEDs use approximately one-quarter the power of traditional incandescent bulbs.