The arctic blast of frigid weather last week set new December records for electricity consumption and could cost many TVA customers more cold cash next month, TVA warned Tuesday.
The federal utility reached a new peak load for December when Tennessee Valley electricity users demanded 31,436 megawatts of electricity on the morning of Dec. 14 when temperatures across the region averaged just 15 degrees. The peak reached that morning followed the highest one-day power consumption for any December in TVA’s 77-year history.
On Dec. 13, TVA met a new December record for daily electricity demand of 674.9 gigawatt-hours. This is TVA’s third highest amount for a 24-hour period ever.
“The cold temperatures caused people to use more electricity as they turn up their thermostats and turn on space heaters,” TVA Group President Kim Greene said. “Using more electricity means electric bills will likely be higher for this month.”