TVA asks customers to conserve electricity

With temperatures soaring, air conditioners humming and power meters spinning, the Tennessee Valley Authority is asking its customers to conserve electricity.

"We're asking everyone to use electricity wisely," said TVA spokesman Gil Francis.

"If they will set the thermostat on their air conditioner a little warmer, turn off lights and appliances they are not using, do hot cooking later in the day when its cooler and run the dishwasher and washing machine only when they have a full load and only after 8 p.m., it will save them money on their utility bill and help us ensure we are able to meet the power needs of the Tennessee Valley," he said.

The conservation requests are not a mandate, just a suggestion with TVA's demand for electrical power at record levels.

TVA's consumer power demand peaked Monday evening when its customers used 32,095 megawatts of electricity as the average temperature across the Tennessee Valley was 94 degrees.

The previous record of 32,008 megawatts was set July 18, 2006, when the average Valley temperature was 97 degrees.

Monday's record was short-lived as TVA set another peak demand Tuesday at 32,888 megawatts, Francis said. He expected that record to be broken Wednesday and again today as temperatures in many Valley communities topped near 100 degrees.

Wednesday's high temperatures in the Shoals was 99 degrees. Today's high is forecast to be 100 degrees.

TVA has had no problems meeting the power needs of its customers, Francis said.

He credited the restart of Unit 1 at Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in May for helping TVA meet those needs. The reactor at the nuclear plant near Athens had been idle for 22 years before being restarted after an extensive overhaul. The reactor's generator can produce enough electricity to power 650,000 homes.

"I guess Browns Ferry Unit 1 is earning its keep," quipped Allen Hughes, general manager of Sheffield Utilities. "Usually when it's this hot and TVA's power demand is so high, they begin curtailing power. There haven't been any curtailments so far this summer."

Francis said TVA is optimistic it will be able to weather the heat wave without having to mandate its customers conserve electricity. He said temperatures are forecast to drop into the low to middle 90s during the coming week which will reduce the demand for electricity across the Valley.

"If we can just make it through the next couple of days without any proble ms, we will be in good shape," he said.

There have been no weather-related power problmes reported locally.

"There's been no glitches. Everything is OK and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it stays that way," said Steve Defoor, general manager of the Russellville Electric Board.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.