Scorching temperatures blanketing much of the U.S. last week resulted in another round of new power demand records being set. Electrical grid operators were able to meet the demand without any significant disruptions in service. Demand records tumbled like dominoes in the Northeast, the Midwest and Ontario.

In the heartland, the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) reported that on Monday, July 31, it successfully met its second record demand of the summer, reaching 136,520 MW in its reliability footprint, eclipsing the record of 132,658 MW set just two weeks ago. Peak load in MISO’s market footprint also set a new record, with usage reaching 116,030 MW, surpassing the previous peak market demand of 113,054 MW, also set on July 17.

MISO said its real-time operations teams in Carmel, IN, and St. Paul, MN, anticipated events and acted accordingly, staying in constant contact with balancing authorities and generation owners to confirm operating needs and capabilities throughout the system.

“We give a lot of credit to our balancing authorities,” MISO spokesperson Gary Rasp told NGI at the end of the week.

On the morning of July 31, MISO declared an emergency energy alert 1 (EEA1) for the entire market footprint. Rasp said that this was the first time that an EEA1 had been issued for the entire footprint. By the middle of the week, things were back to normal, with MISO on Wednesday declaring an EEA Level 0, terminating a maximum generation warning for various balancing authorities and ending conservative operations.

Meanwhile, New York state’s demand for electricity reached a record for the second day in a row — and for the third time in two weeks — last Wednesday (Aug. 2) as New Yorkers kept air conditioners humming and fans blowing to beat the heat and humidity of an unrelenting heat wave.

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) said that its demand response customers helped keep the statewide electricity load from climbing even higher by curtailing afternoon usage. The hourly average peak load hit 33,939 MW during the hour beginning at 1 p.m. on Aug. 2, breaking the Aug. 1 record of 33,879 MW, set between 4 and 5 p.m.

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) on Thursday, Aug. 3, said that it set yet another new peak-hour summer demand record of 5,788 MW of electricity delivered during the hour ending at 5 p.m. LIPA said this was a preliminary number. The record surpassed the previous record of 5,730 MW set earlier last week. In fact, the peak surpassed last year’s record peak of 5,267 MW by 521 MW.

New England consumers also set a new record for electricity consumption, reported ISO New England Inc. (ISO-NE). Preliminary data showed that regional electricity use reached 28,021 MW on the afternoon of Aug. 2, surpassing the record of 27,401 MW, set Aug. 1.

The previous record, 27,395 MW, was set last month on July 18. Last week’s peak record would have been hundreds of megawatts higher if it were not for the New England grid operator’s demand response programs and the conservation efforts of consumers, ISO-NE said.

PJM Interconnection last Thursday evening reported that peak electricity usage for the PJM region of 13 states and Washington, D.C. was 136,397 MW that day. This was lower than Wednesday’s record-setting peak use of 144,796 MW. However, because of the prolonged extreme heat and demand on the system, PJM’s power supply was strained on Aug. 3 in the Mid-Atlantic region, the grid operator said.

In Canada, Ontario set a new all-time record for electricity demand of 27,005 MW on Aug. 1, exceeding the previous record of 26,160 MW set on July 13, 2005, reported Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator.

©Copyright 2006Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.