Arizona Public Service set a new energy demand record over the Aug. 3-4 weekend, driven by triple-digit-temperatures.
An APS release said the utility used 8,212 megawatts of power on Sunday, Aug. 4, according to preliminary figures. That day's high was about 116 degrees.
Even with added demand on their energy grid from high temperatures, the utility said no customers lost power.
"We planned for high temperatures, and we also planned for a peak demand of about 8,400 megawatts," said Yessica Del Rincon with APS. "That was just under what we had planned for this year’s peak, so we were able to meet that adequately."
The Valley’s other major electrical utility, SRP, also set a new energy demand record over the weekend, delivered power to 1.8 million homes.
-
The National Weather Service forecasts highs in the 90s and chances of rain on Saturday and Sunday in metro Phoenix. -
“Standing the Heat” is among a six-part digital series of Indigenous-made films called “Legacy of the Land.” Half of them focus on Arizona tribes. -
This has been Phoenix’s hottest summer on record, but future summers are likely to be even hotter. And some say the city, state and federal government need to do more to prepare. -
Scores of schools across the U.S. are carpeted in asphalt with no shade. The situation has become acute enough that kids are losing classroom time to closures related to heat. -
Phoenix continues to set heat records this summer, but other communities have also seen an increase in the impacts of extreme heat. Sara Meerow, an associate professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU, says says there's been dramatic increase in the level of interest across all kinds of communities worldwide in taking this issue on.
