(Reuters) – PJM Interconnection, the biggest U.S. power grid operator, issued a hot weather alert on Thursday for its entire region covering 13 eastern states and Washington D.C. for Sept. 4-5, expecting scorching heat to drive up electricity demand.
During the upcoming Labor Day holiday and the subsequent week, temperatures throughout its operating region are expected to exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius), accompanied by high humidity.
The alert called upon power plants and transmission units to consider postponing or canceling any scheduled or ongoing maintenance work to prepare for higher-than-usual operations between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. EDT on Monday and Tuesday next week.
The grid expects to serve an overall forecasted load of around 138,500 megawatts (MW) on Monday and 150,000 MW on Tuesday, surpassing this summer’s peak so far of 148,000 MW hit on July 27.
The all-time recorded peak electricity demand on PJM was 165,563 MW in August 2006.
PJM oversees power supply in the 13-state region by managing and paying on-call generators to keep power systems running.
In Texas, the local grid operator has appealed to residents and businesses to conserve energy by curbing use on all but one of the last seven days, with a heat wave sending power prices to a 30-month high on Friday.
(Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
