A TVA power station is visible from the air on Raccoon Mountain near Chattanooga.The recession and its aftermath have cooled TVA’s industrial power sales, but frigid temperatures this month continue to heat up residential electricity usage to wintertime records.
To heat homes, offices and factories during Wednesday’s subfreezing temperatures across the Tennessee Valley, TVA likely set its second one-day record for power consumption this month.
Shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday with temperatures in TVA’s 7-state region averaging only 6 degrees Fahrenheit, the 9 million people in TVA’s 7-state region consumed 32,768 megawatts, just shy of the wionter peak set last Friday at 33,353 megawatts when temperatures averaged 7 degrees in the Valley. But only an hour later on Wednesday, peak demand rose again to reach another near-record high of 32,815 megawatts when temperatrues averaged 10 degrees but many businesses and factories began operation for the day.
TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said the federal utility met the near-record demand without having to interrupt power to any customers, including more than 1,200 which are under contracts that allow TVA to limit power during high-demand periods.
“Our units performed well with all of our nuclear and hydro units at full generation and we were able to purchase more than 3,000 megawatts of power at the peak,” Hopson said.