Intense Heat to Push Biggest US Grid’s Power Use to 12-Year High
Air conditioning units installed in windows during high temperatures in Philadelphia.
Photographer: Joe Lamberti/BloombergElectricity use on the biggest US grid, which serves nearly a fifth of Americans from Washington DC to Illinois, is expected to climb to a 12-year high as intense heat spurs air conditioning needs.
A heat wave will start baking the mid-Atlantic on Saturday with temperatures climbing to 100 F (38 C) in Washington on Monday, 13 degrees above average, according to AccuWeather.com. Households and businesses relying on the grid managed by PJM Interconnection LLC may use as much as 158.5 gigawatts at about 5 p.m. ET, according to the system operator. That would make it the highest hourly peak demand since July 2013 and is above this summer’s anticipated high, PJM data show.