ComEd Reports Sunday Record Peak, High Usage Again Today
Monday July 25, 2:56 pm ET
CHICAGO, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- With more high temperatures today in the Chicago area, ComEd is continuing to prepare for heavy demand, and the company's emergency operations centers remain open. In addition, ComEd has postponed scheduled work that would require equipment to be out of service, scheduled extra work crews to handle any problems that may occur, and put work crews out in the field to monitor the system and respond quickly if needed.
ComEd yesterday broke a Sunday record for peak use as customers used about 20,600 megawatts (MW), eclipsing the old Sunday record of 19,228 MW set on July 21, 2002.
Yesterday, ComEd saw isolated and scattered outages, which is typical during extreme heat, but the system has not experienced any significant events. Yesterday's outages were largely due to small transformer failures, resulting in isolated outages that affected pockets of customers.
"Some of our customers experienced service outages, and we regret the inconvenience that may have caused. The outages we did experience were isolated, and overall the system performed well, given the extreme heat," said Frank M. Clark, ComEd president. "Our dedicated ComEd employees have been working outside in the heat for the past several days, and we appreciate their efforts to keep the power flowing to all our customers."
Due to the extremely high temperatures, in some cases ComEd also has dispatched cooling buses and provided bottled water to some neighborhoods affected by extended outages, in an effort to help offer customers some relief from the heat.
ComEd will not perform residential service disconnections through the end of today. The utility's decision of "no disconnects" took effect on Thursday, July 21, in anticipation of the extreme heat. The suspension will end Tuesday, when temperatures are predicted to drop.
To help customers stay comfortable, conserve energy and manage their electricity bills, ComEd offers the following energy-saving tips:
1. Keep thermostats at a constant, comfortable level (75 - 78 degrees)
when at home. Lowering the thermostat setting below the desired
temperature will not cool the home faster.
2. To reduce heat and moisture during the warmest part of the day, run
appliances such as ovens, washing machines, dryers and dishwashers in
the early morning or evening hours when it's generally cooler outside.
3. Keep shades, blinds and curtains closed. About 40 percent of unwanted
heat comes through windows. Simply drawing blinds and curtains, which
act as a layer of insulation, can reduce heat gain to your home.
4. Keep doors to the outside, garage or attic firmly closed to keep cool
air in and hot air out.
5. Check the air conditioner filter monthly to ensure efficient operation.
For more energy saving ideas, visit exeloncorp.com or call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON-1 (1-800-334-7661).
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC - News) one of the nation's largest electric utilities with more than $14 billion in revenues and a customer base of more than 5 million. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.7 million customers across Northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population. |
