This week’s freezing temperatures pushed Puget Sound Energy customers’ natural gas usage to a new high Monday, surpassing the record set last December. With temperatures forecasted to remain colder than usual for several more days, PSE is encouraging customers to use energy wisely, particularly during peak energy periods, to manage their winter heating bills.
PSE’s natural gas usage reached 791,096 million British thermal units (MMBTu) for the 24-hour period ending today at 7 a.m., surpassing the 785,043 MMBTu record set Dec. 20, 2008. Monday’s peak electricity usage of 4,750 megawatts (MW), which occurred at 7 p.m. yesterday, fell just shy of the record peak of 4,906 MW set Dec. 15, 2008.
PSE has been strategically investing in new power supplies, natural gas-storage infrastructure, and energy-transmission and distribution systems in recent years to ensure sufficient supplies of electricity and natural gas to meet customers’ daily and peak energy demands.
During this week’s cold snap, the utility has been running all its power-generating facilities – including its single-cycle, natural gas-fired “peakers” typically used specifically during high-demand periods.
“We are always mindful that our customers face higher bills during cold weather spells, and even more so during these tough economic times,” said Bert Valdman, PSE executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We encourage customers to use energy wisely and efficiently by keeping homes and businesses at the lowest comfortable temperature, and turning off unnecessary lights, computers and appliances especially during peak periods of energy use in the morning, late afternoon and early evening.”
Per agreements with the utility, some business customers this week are reducing their daily natural gas use during peak periods (between 4 and 11 a.m.) to keep the overall distribution system stable. The University of Washington, since Monday, and Seattle Steam and the Seattle Snohomish Mill in Snohomish, beginning on Tuesday, reduced their natural gas use during the peak period. Lakeside Industries in Centralia, since Monday, stopped using natural gas during the peak period.
In 2008, PSE completed the expansion of the Pacific Northwest’s largest underground natural gas storage facility, near Chehalis. The Jackson Prairie Natural Gas Storage Facility, operated and co-owned by PSE, can now store up to 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas. On cold winter days, natural gas withdrawals from the facility can meet the needs of about 1.2 million households – or one-quarter of the Northwest’s natural gas demand.
