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One-day record for kilowatts used in cityBy Luther Dorr How hot has it been in Princeton the past few days? Hot enough that an all-time record for the use of kilowatts was recorded by Princeton Public Utilities Monday. Dale Dunham, PUC manager, said Tuesday morning that readings from the day before showed that 10,980 kilowatt hours had been used, breaking the July 30, 1999, record of 10,704. The outlook for a break from the hot weather was so poor on Monday, in fact, that the Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency - the wholesale distributor of electricity to Princeton - had already asked that Princeton produce a bigger share of its own power on Tuesday. Princeton can honor that request because the local power plant, built in 1938, is still operational and can help out SMMPA in extreme circumstances. "We're using two engines today [at the plant]," Dunham said Monday afternoon "and we expect to run three tomorrow at the behest of the agency." SMMPA gets 41 percent of its electricity from the Sherco 3 plant and member cities Rochester, Austin and Owatonna have large steam plants. But when the wholesale price goes high in peak demand times, such as Monday, it might ask Princeton to produce six megawatts from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on some days, such as it did Monday for Tuesday. "We take that much off of our load [from SMMPA]," Dunham said. Dunham said Monday the PUC had already done some controlling of power at the preset level in Princeton. In other words, customers who have agreed to participate in a program that cycles their air conditioners during peak hours (noon to 10 p.m.), for example, had that happen on Sunday. "We didn't think that would happen over the weekend," Dunham said Monday. "But I don't think anybody noticed because we haven't had any calls." Customers can help the problem of demand for power by "judicious use," Dunham said. "It will help everyone." Things such as delaying the use of a dishwasher during those peak hours, setting the air conditioning at 76 or 78 instead of 74, and choosing meals that don't contribute additional heat to the home are some things that can help. The heat index reached beyond 110 in Princeton Monday and the temperature was at 98. Princeton Union-Eagle |