Dive Brief:
- Arizona utility Salt River Project experienced a record 6,707 MW of demand on its grid on Wednesday afternoon, beating the previous high of 6,663 MW in 2012.
- Arizona Public Service Commission also experienced the highest peak demand for the year at 7,050 MW for 1.1 million customers, but it barely missed out on breaking its all-time record demand of 7,236 MW set in July 2006.
- The high demand came in response to soaring temperatures across the state this week, causing air conditioners to run on full blast.
Dive Insight:
If not for demand-side management, Salt River Project's peak demand record could have been even higher. Salt River asked business customer to reduce their energy use during the peak and saw a reduction of about 50 MW. Arizona Public Service's demand response program for large businesses cut 20 MW during the peak demand period.