The 90-degree temperatures in Denver started in May. June featured a record-setting 19 days with 90 or above, and one day – June 14 – when the temperature hit 102, the highest on that date since 1872. Another record was broken in July when the temperature reached 103 on the 16th.
Record heat also has been hovering over two-thirds of the U.S. this summer, and along with it has come ravenous demand for electricity.
We’re crazy for air conditioning.
In this country – and most of the developed world – air conditioning no longer is considered a luxury. No matter how hot it gets, we assume it will be there for us. As a matter of fact, I’m thinking I could use a bit more of it right now.
So it’s people like me who have created the whopping increase in demand for electricity in Colorado. Mark Stutz, spokesman for Xcel, said the number of customers has increased by 20 percent in the past decade and demand per customer has jumped another 10 percent. Peak demand – when we’re all running our air conditioners – is up 60 percent.
This means the whole system has to expand by 60 percent. As Stutz said, in the energy biz “you have to build the church for Easter Sunday.”
Across the country, we’re racing in the opposite direction of Europe, Russia, Japan and Canada, all signatories to the Kyoto Accord. They’re developing strategies for reducing emissions and burning less fossil fuel while we’re burning more.
In the U.S., power companies are building bigger generation facilities, consuming more coal and gas, operating more windmills and transmitting more megawatts of power all the time.
“We’ve done a good job of adding generation in Colorado,” Stutz said. Outages this year have been relatively rare.
But what if the U.S. had signed the Kyoto Accord? Would we be sweating it out through rolling blackouts as the heat wave holds us in its grip?
Would – gasp – our air conditioners be sputtering?
“It wouldn’t affect our quality of life one bit,” said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Except our energy costs would be lower.”
Wait just one minute.
I asked Matt Baker, director of Environment Colorado, if this could be true.
“Absolutely,” he said.
The cost of energy from increased efficiency is about 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour compared with 6 to 7 cents for a kilowatt hour of power from a new natural-gas generation plant, Baker said.
“Kyoto’s a cinch. If we really want to save money, we should go a lot farther.”
So many inefficiencies exist in the U.S., “we could meet the goals of Kyoto with no impact on our lifestyle. None.”
Baker used Stapleton as an example.
“It costs about one-third to cool a house built in Stapleton compared to average new houses built in other parts of the metro area,” he said.
The difference is that Stapleton builders were required to use more insulation, houses were designed to maximize sun exposure in the winter and minimize it in the summer, and efficient cooling systems were installed.
“There are enormous opportunities for improving efficiency that we could do now with available technologies that would improve our comfort levels – and save money,” he said.
So why don’t we?
We’ve been brainwashed, said Meyer.
“The mythology is that energy conservation is costly and damaging to the economy,” he said, “and that’s just plain false. I think the only people left who believe that are in Congress.”
Meyer said lobbyists from the oil and coal industries fought hard against signing on to Kyoto because conservation would affect their bottom line. “They led the campaign to confuse people,” he said. “It was all about profits.”
But there’s nothing to stop consumers from launching a movement to cut energy use on their own. And Stutz said Xcel is eager to help.
So what the heck, be a subversive. All there is to lose is a higher electric bill.
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
