Progress Energy Florida customers set new peak-demand record

FLORIDA - Progress Energy Florida customers set a new peak-demand record February 6 as temperatures dipped into the 20s throughout much of the state overnight.

Information for Friday's hourly peak indicates that customers used 10,276 megawatt-hours (MWh) between 7 and 8 a.m. That usage surpassed the prior hourly peak for the utility — 10,131 MWh, set January 24, 2003.

A day before setting the system peak-demand record, Progress Energy Florida's customers set an unprecedented one-day usage record February 5, reflecting our customers' increasing energy needs. Progress Energy Florida's crews worked before, during and after the cold weather to ensure customers continued receiving reliable power.

With warmer temperatures, customer usage returned to seasonal levels over the weekend.

Peak demand is a measure of the greatest amount of electricity used by Progress Energy Florida's customers at one time. It can be measured instantaneously or over a period of time. For purposes of comparison, Progress Energy Florida uses hourly peak information.

While customers generally use more energy overall during summer months, the highest hourly peak usage typically occurs in winter for Progress Energy Florida, as customers use electric heat to warm their homes on cold mornings.

"This record-setting customer energy demand — even in the middle of a recession — highlights the importance of having a balanced strategy for meeting energy needs with clean, reliable and affordable power," said Jeff Lyash, CEO and president-Progress Energy Florida. "Energy efficiency and renewable energy are very important, and we're moving forward aggressively on those fronts. But as this experience indicates, the strategy has to include state-of-the-art power plants, such as the advanced-design nuclear plant we're planning for Levy County."