Plentiful power supplies blunt heat wave’s impact, utilities say.

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By Steve Bennish

Staff Writer

Dayton —

Many face higher electric bills as power usage has spiked during the extended heat wave.

The average bill has increased 50 percent in July compared to June, said Duke Energy spokeswoman Sally Thelen. A study of the previous 30 days shows the average customer’s bill was $163. For the month before that, the bill was $109.

But, Thelen said, customers have different energy needs and extreme temperatures in the summer can increase a customer’s bill by an average 35 percent. Duke serves Warren and Butler counties.

At Dayton Power & Light, for the billing period that included mid-June to mid-July, average residential usage was up 12 percent from last year. The average residential bill was $151.24 from mid-June-to mid-July, up 10 percent from 2011, spokeswoman Lesley Sprigg said.

DP&L;’s service area includes Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties. Corresponding figures from Ohio Edison, which serves Clark and Champaign counties, were not available Thursday.

The electric demand hasn’t phased DP&L;, Duke or Ohio Edison, the three utilities said Thursday. Hamilton’s municipal electric utility also has not been hampered by the increased electric demand.

Doug Childs, director of energy management, expects Hamilton city customers will see an increase of 15 to 20 percent on their electric bills for their July usage, or about $15 to $30 more than what was billed in 2011.

“It’s going to hit people when they see the increase in their August bills,” Childs said.

In July 2011, the average Hamilton electric customer used 1,332 kilowatts at a cost of $143.05, Childs said. For July 2012, the average electric usage was estimated at 1,500 kilowatts at a cost of $164.60, he said.

There’s been plenty of power - and will continue to be - for hard-working air conditioners, fans and the like. The National Weather Service counts 25 days so far this year with temperatures 90-degrees or above. We’re not close to the record, despite a widespread national drought that makes it feel that way.

On Thursday, the weather service said the current drought in Ohio will likely persist or intensify through Oct. 31.

In 1899, Dayton posted 62 days of 90-degrees or above, a record equalled in 1900.

“We’re less than halfway there, but we have half of July and all of August to go,” said Jeff Sites, a meteorologist with the service.

PJM Interconnection, the operator of the electric grid that includes Ohio and 12 other states, said that Tuesday demand hit 155,000 megawatts and “a heavy load voltage schedule warning was issued to generation and transmission owners requesting that they prepare for maximum voltage support on the power system.”

It was the highest demand for electricity so far this year, and higher than what was forecast for the 2012 peak demand - 153,780 MW. But it’s not a new record, PJM added.

DP&L;’s Sprigg said no records have been set for electricity usage in the DP&L; service area this week, or this year. On June 28, DP&L; had peak usage of 3,499 megawatts. Last year’s peak usage was 3,597 megawatts on July 21. Record energy usage was Aug. 8, 2007 when it hit 3,727 megawatts.

Nevertheless, DP&L; fired up several of back-up power generation units.

Normal usage on a summer day is 2,400 to 2,500 megawatts.

“For perspective, the difference between the region’s highest usage so far this summer and the 2007 record is a considerable amount of power,” Sprigg said. “The former GM plant in Moraine would use 50 megawatts at peak in one day—it was a very large facility running a significant amount of equipment. So the difference between the record and the expected usage is the equivalent of seven or more GM plants.”

DP&L; has added multi-million dollar substations in the past few years where the demand for power is increasing. The latest to be built was in Beavercreek on New Germany Trebein Road. Natural gas-fired back up peaking generators for high demand periods are located in Dayton, Centerville, Miamisburg and Sidney. The back-up power units in Dayton can be seen from Interstate 75, near the UD arena.

“We generally turn on these units every summer, when energy usage is at its highest,” Sprigg said.

Duke Energy also said it’s not close to breaking a summer record set in July 25, 2005. “During summer months, it is typical for us to operate peaking plants to help meet load. They have been operating on a number of occasions over the past month,” Thelen said.

At First Energy/Ohio Edison, a spokeswoman said the transmission and distribution system has performed well under the increased demand associated with the heat wave, with no major heat-induced outages.

“Our baseload power plants continue to operate well. We are closely monitoring weather conditions while working in concert with grid operator PJM, and we will take appropriate actions, if required, to ensure the grid continues to operate reliably,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Young.

While Duke has not made a plea for conservation, Thelen said it’s always a good idea to save energy and save money.

She offered these tips:

o Keep your doors, curtains or blinds closed so your air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard.

o Bump up the thermostat– Adjusting your thermostat up a degree or two can keep you comfortable while reducing your energy consumption.

o Use your microwave instead of the oven. It cut down on excessive heat in the kitchen.

o Consider running your clothes dryer or dishwasher later in the evening, when energy demand is lower

o Install compact fluorescent light bulbs – Replacing the bulbs in your six most-used lamps / fixtures with CFLs can save up to $30 over the lifetime of each bulb.