Monday, July 17, 2006
Heat wave!
The market for electricity is getting tight in the northeast. PJM Interconnection, which runs the grid for more than 50 million Americans, is asking people to conserve power.
The request is being made for the service territories of Atlantic City Electric; Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.; Delmarva Power; Dominion; Jersey Central Power & Light Co. (JCP&L); Metropolitan Edison Co. (Met-Ed); PECO, an Exelon Company; Pepco; Pennsylvania Electric Co. (Penelec); PPL Electric Utilities; PSE&G; and UGI Utilities, Inc.
PJM expects to reach a new all-time peak record demand today of more than 138,000 megawatts of electricity. The previous record was 133,763 megawatts set on July 26, 2005. PJM expects to have adequate supplies of electricity. It issued the request for conservation as a prudent precaution.
PJM asks customers to conserve electricity, if health permits - especially between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Electricity customers can take simple electricity conservation steps:
-- Close curtains and blinds to keep out the sun and retain cooler air inside,
-- Postpone using major electric household appliances such as stoves, dishwashers and clothes dryers until the cooler evening hours,
-- If health permits, set air conditioner thermostats higher than usual, and
-- Turn off electric appliances and equipment that you do not need or are not using.
Conserving electricity will help ensure adequate power supplies. PJM and its members continue to carefully monitor the power supply conditions.
PJM is communicating about the situation with state government officials throughout the region. PJM's region includes all or parts of Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM is coordinating efforts among generators, power suppliers and local utilities.
It's all George Bush's fault.
1 Comments:
By 
Gordon Smith, at
Mon Jul 17, 04:19:00 PM:
Hiya Hawk,
I'm fresh off a week of vacation, and it's good to see you promoting conservation and highlighting the energy problems this nation faces.
George W. Bush certainly hasn't done either. Bush's energy plan is little more than a paean to oil,coal, and nuclear giants. While paying a bit of lip service to alternatives, the federal money keeps pouring into fossil fuels. There are myriad solutions to the energy problem, and one is to do nothing and wait for things to get so bad that the energy companies are telling people to use less energy.
It's not George W. Bush's fault, but he's done nothing to advance a meaningful solution. Fuel Cells! Switchgrass!
Fund alternatives like we fund fossils and this country will be energy independent a whole lot earlier. BTW, what's your thermostat set at, Hawk?
