LIPA Could Set New Summer-Demand Record as Heat & Humidity Increase Efficient Energy Use Urged Uniondale, NY - July 26, 2005 - Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Chairman Richard M. Kessel said today that a new peak summer-demand record could be set later this afternoon or tomorrow as weather forecasters call for "the highest temperatures and humidity of the summer" to hit Long Island over the next two days. A new peak hour demand record would have to beat the 5239 megawatts (MW) of electricity delivered to the Long Island Control Area (LICA) last week, July 19, between the hours of 4 and 5PM. It was the sixth time LIPA exceeded the 5,000 MW peak hour demand mark, and the fourth time this year alone. LIPA also set a new record last week for the total amount of electricity delivered over a five-day day period when a total of 468,183 Megawatt Hours (MWH) were delivered to Long Island between Monday, July 18 and Friday July 22. The next highest five-day period occurred in July 2002 when 462,374 MWHs were consumed on Long Island. Last week, LIPA also delivered near-record amounts of electricity to the South Fork and Fire Island without any major incidents. On Friday, July 22, the South Fork used 194 MWs of power at peak, which tied the record set on July 4, 2002. On Fire Island, nearly 15 MWs were needed to meet peak demand on Saturday, July 23, which was also just shy of setting a new record. In recent years, LIPA has reinforced the transmission systems to both the South Fork and Fire Island to increase the ability to carry more electricity to meet growing demand in those locations. LIPA anticipates that today's high temperatures and humidity that Long Island will experience could push peak hour demand beyond the 5300 MW mark, but indicates that it has nearly 6100 MWs of supply available to meet demand. "While we have an adequate supply, we still urge customers to use electricity efficiently," said Mr. Kessel. "High temperatures and humidity stress the distribution system because of the extra demand and the heat caused by the increased electric load. Using electricity efficiently will not only reduce stress on the system, it will also help keep customer bills down. "Additionally, it just doesn't make sense to waste our resources," said Mr. Kessel. "The price of a barrel of oil has surpassed the $60 barrier with regularity in recent weeks, gasoline prices are at an all time high, we just witnessed some of the highest prices in history for home heating fuels this past winter and consumer demand is higher than ever and growing. When is America going to send the signal to OPEC and others that we've had enough of the price gouging? When are we going to significantly reduce energy use to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas?" LIPA recommends the following to reduce electric use and bills: * Reduce all non-essential electric use; * Set air conditioners at 78 degrees; For additional energy conservation tips, consumers can log on to LIPA's Web site at www.lipower.org, or call its energy conservation hotline at 1-800-692-2626. A non-profit municipal electric utility, LIPA owns the retail electric system on Long Island and provides electric service to over 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA does not own any electric generation assets on Long Island, and it does not provide natural gas service. Please Note: ### Contact Information: Press Release 07/26/05 5:20 PM Eastern |
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