Energy demand reaches highest level in nearly a decade as EWEB prepares for ice
Demand for electricity in EWEB's service territory ascended to the highest levels in nearly a decade on Feb. 12.
Demand topped out around 8 a.m. at 493 megawatts. The official overnight low temperature descended to 22 degrees F, but some areas of Eugene saw temperatures dip into the teens.
Frigid temperatures cause energy demand to soar as heaters work harder to keep homes and businesses warm. Energy demand on the morning of Feb. 12 topped this winter’s previous record of 475 megawatts, which occurred on Jan. 28.
“When the cold lingers for days on end, energy demand tends to build, as indoor spaces never fully warm up,” said Katrina Starr, an energy trader at EWEB. “The cold temperatures we’ve seen in the last few days have been the longest stretch of cold that we’ve seen since 2017.”
In 2017, energy demand soared to 524 megawatts on Jan. 6, when low temperatures dropped to 13 degrees. But even that level of demand is well below EWEB’s all-time record, which took place on Dec. 9, 2013, when temperatures plummeted to -10 degrees F. That morning around 9 a.m., EWEB customers were consuming 557 megawatts of electricity, as heaters worked full-bore to keep homes warm.
The highest energy demand of the year almost always occurs in January or February, when temperatures are their lowest and cold fronts bear down on the Pacific Northwest. The overnight lows are the primary driver of peak energy demand, which tends to occur in the early morning hours.
“In our area, peak demand happens during the winter,” said EWEB Chief Energy Resources Officer Brian Booth. “As we plan for the future, we need to carefully consider adding energy resources to our mix that we can ramp up during cold weather to keep people warm and safe. Our existing hydropower resources do this very well, but we’ll need additional on-demand resources that can keep up.”
EWEB prepares for impending ice storm.
A wintry mix of snow and ice will begin falling in Eugene Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service. EWEB crews are preparing for any possible outages.
Forecasts indicate that this storm will be milder than the 2024 ice storm, when a total of 38,000 EWEB customers lost power at some point and when EWEB crews worked 16-hour days for nearly two weeks straight to get the power back on for customers.
Precipitation will initially begin as mixed freezing rain and snow Wednesday night, transitioning over primarily to freezing rain on Thursday. Significant ice accumulations will be possible. Ice and snow accumulation increase the risk of tree limbs falling on power lines which can lead to power outages and downed wires.
EWEB has activated its incident response protocols and crews are on standby to brave the cold and ice overnight to get the power back on for any outages that do occur. The utility has confirmed that critical equipment and systems are ready to be used in restoration. As always, crews will focus first on making any dangerous areas safe, then assess the situation to develop response plans.
If community members see downed power lines, always assume the line is energized and stay at least 50 feet away. If the downed line is across a street or sidewalk, call 911. Remember to stop and observe to survive.
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