LIPA Urges More Residential Conservation as Region Enters 3rd Day of
Heat Wave
High Electric Use During Evening Hours Sets New Trend
Residential Demand Growing Significantly
Uniondale, NY - August 3, 2006 - With Long Island setting new
peak-demand and 24-hour electric use records during the current
multi-day heat wave, a new electricity use pattern seems to be
developing. Residential electric use after 6PM is soaring and well into
the night.
While the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) set an official peak-hour
summer-demand record yesterday of 5730 megawatts (MW), and a 24-hour use
record of 113,951 megawatts hours (MWHR), during the last two days the
hourly demand for electricity remained above 5000 MWs until after 10PM.
That's a new energy demand trend on Long Island which underscores the
fact that residential electric use - even during periods when
conservation is being stressed - continues to grow at unprecedented
levels.
"Long Islanders are consuming electric power at unprecedented levels,"
said LIPA Chairman Richard M. Kessel.
"We've been able to meet demand during the current heat wave with more
than 1,100 megawatts of new supply we've added in four years. And we
have the Neptune cable and Caithness plant due on line over the next few
years. But I'm seriously concerned that we will not be able to add new
supplies fast enough in the years beyond 2008 to keep up with soaring
demand," said Mr. Kessel.
Unprecedented Demand Growth
To underscore his point, Mr. Kessel noted that yesterday's new peak-hour
record of 5730 MWs beat last year's peak-hour of 5267 by 463 MWs - the
largest year-to-year increase in peak-hour demand in Long Island's
history.
Mr. Kessel also noted that yesterday's 24-hour electric demand record of 113,951 MWHRs beat last year's 24-hour demand record of 98,216 MWHR by
15,216 MWHs, which is another historic increase.
"These record numbers underscore that Long Islander's want their
electricity and they want more and more every year," said Mr. Kessel. "It's almost impossible to predict when this kind of unprecedented
demand will begin to ease off or top out."
Need To Address New Trend
To address the new trend of significantly increased electric demand
after 6PM during heat waves, Mr. Kessel indicated that he's initiating
the development of a program - "Nighttime is The Right Time to Conserve"
- that can be implemented next summer that seeks to get more residential
customers to conserve electricity when they get home from work or a
summer day's activities.
"The commercial and residential sectors have been responding well during
the day to respond to our appeals to conserve when we're in a
non-emergency situation," said Mr. Kessel. "But during the post-6PM
hours we're seeing a trend of exceptionally high demand. We must do
something about this."
Residential customers can do more during the post-6PM hours to conserve
energy to help reduce overnight stress on LIPA's electric system, Mr.
Kessel noted.
"Lowering evening hour electric use will reduce heat-related outages,
and will help reduce the starting point for electric demand and outages
as the next day of a multi-day heat wave event begins," said Mr. Kessel.
"We can all do more to save at home," said Mr. Kessel. "In addition to
helping to reduce heat-related outages on distribution circuits that
serve residential areas, consumers will save money,"
Demand Forecast for August 3, 2006
LIPA projects a peak-hour electric demand for today of approximately
5500 MWs for the hour ending at 5PM, with an available electric supply
of nearly 6200 MWs.
While the 5500 MW peak will not set a new record, it is a demand level
that beats the peak record set on July 18 of this year of 5427, and goes
well past last year's summer peak record of 5267 MWs.
"Not long ago passing the 4000 MW level was record setting," said Mr.
Kessel. "Now we pass the 5000 MW level almost as a matter of routine."
Two-Day Outage Summary
Some 62,216 lost power for a time yesterday. This number includes the
loss of 24,193 customers for about ten minutes as a result of problems
at the Bellmore substation. For the two-day heat storm event, a total
of 91,016 have experienced an interruption. The average restoration
time over the last two days has been 5.5 hours.
Approximately 1,000 field personnel have been working in rotating, and
in some cases overlapping, 16-hour shifts to make repairs in record
setting heat and humidity.
"The crews have been doing a fantastic job under extremely difficult
conditions to make repairs as soon as possible," said Mr. Kessel. "They
are highly skilled and dedicated, and work long hours to keep LIPA
customers in service and to return them to service quickly during these
kinds of extraordinary events."
Conservation Urged
As Long Island enters the third day of the current heat wave, LIPA
continues to urge customers to:
* Eliminating all non-essential electric use;
* Placing air conditioners on timers, don't let them run when not at
home;
* Setting air conditioners at 78 degrees;
* Using fans to circulate cool air, which will help cut air conditioner
use;
* Setting refrigerators and freezers at most efficient temperatures; and
* Running appliances such as clothes washers, dryers and dishwashers in
the early morning or late evening to avoid the peak afternoon demand
hours.
High temperatures and high electric demand can sometimes cause scattered
heat-related outages. LIPA advises that conserving electricity will help
reduce the potential for outages. Customers who experience an outage
should call 1-800- 490-0075.
Additional energy conservation tips can be obtained from LIPA's Web
site, www.lipower.org, or by calling its Infoline at 1-800-692-2626.
LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric system, owns the retail electric
Transmission and Distribution System (T&D) on Long Island and provides
electric service to over 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk
counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. In terms of customers
served, LIPA is the 3rd largest municipal electric utility in the nation
and the 6th largest in terms of electricity delivered. LIPA does not
provide natural gas service or own any on-island electric generating assets.
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LIPA Contact Information:
Media Relations: (516) 719-9892
Media Pager: (516) 525-LIPA
media.relations@lipower.org
LIPA News Center
http://www.lipower.org/newscenter
LIPA Storm Center
http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter
Press Release 08/03/06 12:46 PM Eastern
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