Why Albertans were asked to conserve electricity Wednesday night
The Alberta Electric System Operator issued an alert on Wednesday as a result of "very tight supply conditions" on the province's power grid, the company explained on Thursday.
AESO asked people to conserve electricity during the peak hours of 4 to 7 p.m. due to a combination of hot weather, low wind and two thermogenerators falling offline.
"When we have extreme temperatures, either heat or extreme cold, that drives up power demand. So we were just north of 11,000 megawatts yesterday, which is pretty high. Not record demand, but high," said Leif Sollid, AESO's communications manager.
The grid alert is "kind of an early warning system," Sollid said and he's confident AESO will continue to meet demand as hot weather grips the province in the coming days.
AESO is asking Albertans to "do their part" and follow these conservation tips:
- Turn off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances
- Minimize the use of air conditioning/space heaters
- Delay the use of major power-consuming appliances such as washers, dryers and dishwashers until after peak hours
- Use cold water for washing clothes—most of the energy used goes to heating the water (only running full loads helps too)
- Delay charging electric vehicles and/or plugging in block heaters
- Cook with your microwave, crockpot or toaster oven instead of the stove
- Limit the use of kitchen or bathroom ventilation fans
- Use motion-detector lights in storage areas, garages, and outdoors when possible
- Work on a laptop instead of a desktop computer (laptops are more energy-efficient than desktop units)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.