Summer Sizzle

Here's a quick summary on life in the Puget Sound area: we spend 1o months grumbling about the rain and gray skies, and two months grumbling about the heat. In between, for a few minutes in May and a few minutes in September, we go all Goldilocks and declare the weather "just right."

The National Weather Service is predicting some record heat the next few days, with temperatures up to 100 in Western Washington by Wednesday. This can be a problem for some people, such as those who work outdoors or may have health concerns, or a joy to others who are sun-starved for much of the year. The graphic here shows the hot spots, with the warmest areas in pink, right around Olympia, where temperatures may reach the low 100s by Wednesday. But everybody else in the "red zone" cooks along as well, with highs in the mid to upper 90s.

As a utility, we have a number of concerns in this kind of weather. Extreme heat is hard on our transmission and distribution systems, and also places a lot of load on our generating plants. Interestingly, though, the demand for energy, while much higher than average during a heat wave, is actually much less than during extreme cold. The likely reason is that we have more people heating with electricity, and not as much air-conditioning -- although a/c is becoming more popular around our region than it was decades ago.

During our winter record cold of December 2008, the demand on our electric system reached about 5000 megawatts, while this summer heat wave is expected to create a much lower demand for energy.

One great way to stay cool is through switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, which are much more efficient than traditional incandescent light bulbs. The incandescents use about four times the energy of a CFL to produce the same amount of light, mainly because the incandescent actually takes about 90 percent of the incoming energy and turns it into heat, with only about 10 percent of the energy consumed by a traditional bulb becoming light. On average, CFLs put out 70 percent less heat for the same amount of lighting as an incandescent bulb.

For a little reading on our heatwave, I recommend Professor Cliff Mass' blog posting today, and also the National Weather Services "forecast discussion", which is posted several times a day by the NWS forecasters. It's a great "behind the scenes" look at the rationale and interpretation behind the forecast you might see on TV or on the radio.

From the utility angle, energy efficiency is important year round, but especially at times of higher than normal demand such as a heat wave. Many of the steps you can take are easy, and will help you stay cooler, and save money as well. New technologies can also help you put in air-conditioning without having to do as much re-work on an older home, and still manage costs through greater efficiency than older models. The PSE rebate for these "ductless heat pumps" is $1200, and right now you can combine this with IRS tax credits for energy efficient products.