Rochester Public Utilities | Blog

Archive for July, 2011

City sets new electric peak demand record

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

ROCHESTER, MN. — The city of Rochester set a new peak demand record on Monday topping out at 291 megawatts (MW). The previous electric peak demand record was set back on July 31, 2006 of 288 MW (megawatts) Extremely high temperatures and high air conditioning usage attributed to the new peak demand.  

 

Electrical peak demand is the greatest amount of power used during a one-hour measured period.  Peak demand usually occurs between 1 P.M. and 7 P.M.

 

“Strings of high temperature and high humidity days are something we are always prepared for.  There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes in order to make sure that there is safe, reliable power for RPU customers in these times of high electricity usage. We still want to remind our customers to use energy conservatively and wisely during these hot summer days,” said Larry Koshire, General Manager.

 

As temperatures and humidity are forecasted to remain high for the next two to three days, it is likely that RPU’s peak could reach even higher later this week.

 

For more information visit www.rpu.org or call 507-280-1500.

 

About Rochester Public Utilities

 

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 110 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 47,000 customers.  Water customers number more than 36,000.  RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive.  Current initiatives include fuel cell research, wind power, and photovoltaic offerings.

 

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