[ad_1]
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Duke Energy asked customers to voluntarily reduce their energy use on Monday morning, in response to the extremely cold temperatures driving unusually high demand for electricity.
Duke Energy spokeswoman Ana Gibbs says the request was made in order to conserve energy and protect the grid to keep electricity flowing for any many customers as possible.
“We’ve definitely heard rumors about rolling blackouts or rolling brownouts and right now Duke Energy does not anticipate doing any of those things,” she said. “We have a situation in Florida where our energy grid, our power grid, is interconnected. Not just throughout Florida but also the southeastern U.S. so it’s just important that we can share that with our neighbors in case they need it.”
Duke asked customers to lower energy use by reducing thermostat temperatures, avoiding using major appliances during the coldest four hours on Monday morning, and charging electric vehicles after 9 a.m.
“Keeping that heater temp as low as you can but to your comfort is really what saves the most energy,” Gibbs said. “That is about 30% of your energy bill. So it’s mutually beneficial because not only does it save energy, it reduces your energy bill.”
Gibbs said the last time they had a similar situation with energy usage due to the extreme cold was in the winter of 2010.
“The last time we had kind of record demand was back around in 2010 when we had these similar record low temperatures,” she said. ”Right now everyone’s asking, ‘Do you think you’re going to see a record demand or a record peak?’ We’re not anticipating seeing that. We’re not anticipating a record use of energy during this event. This really has to do with that we’re in a position to help our neighboring utilities if that’s something that’s needed.”
Duke Energy said a text that’s been circulating appearing to be from Duke regarding rolling blackouts in a scam and customers should disregard it and not click on any links.
[ad_2]
Angie Angers
Source link