Duke Energy sets Records for Winter Energy Use

Over the past few days, customers served by various Duke Energy companies have set all-time records for winter power use.  Duke Energy spokesperson Kristen Pulley gives details. “For Duke Energy Carolinas, a new winter usage peak of 20,246 megawatt-hours was set Tuesday in the hour ending at 8am. That exceeded the previous winter record of 18,985 megawatt-hours set on Dec. 15, 2010.” During the extreme weather event, the company asked for and received conservation from commercial, industrial and residential customers to help ease the burden on the utility system, explains Pulley.  “We sent an email out asking customers to hold off on doing any household chores that may require electricity for the next 24 hours.  It looks like temperatures are rising and it looks by the weekend we will be in the 60’s and we can hopefully return to doing normal things.  So, yesterday we asked customers to help conserve electricity by holding off on any chores that use electricity.” Today, Duke Energy system operators are closely monitoring the electric system and there is an adequate supply of electricity to meet demand.