The cold weather that pierced through Metro Vancouver over the weekend, hitting the region with snow and ice, is also expected to boost power consumption to record levels Monday evening (December 1).
Temperatures dipped as low as -6C Monday morning, according to Environment Canada.
BC Hydro said it expects electricity usage to go up significantly — as high as 10,100 megawatts sometime from 4-8 p.m. — when people return home from work to warm up.
Those peak hours are when residents are more likely to turn on the TV, toss clothes into the washing machine and crank up the heat in their homes.
Power consumption peaked at 9,300 megawatts Sunday evening from 5-6 p.m. That registered 1,550 megawatts higher than the peak demand a week prior — about the equivalent of running three turbines at maximum capacity at the Mica hydroelectric dam in the B.C. Interior.
The previous record was set November 29, 2006, when consumption reached 10,113 megawatts.
Environment Canada forecasts temperatures will reach as high as 8C by Saturday.
