Sweltering Colorado customers of Xcel Energy set a record Tuesday for electricity demand, but the utility had ample power to supply the need.
Electricity use peaked at 3 p.m. with 6,789 megawatts consumed, barely topping the former record of 6,785 megawatts set July 21, 2005. Peak demand occurred shortly after Denver’s temperature topped out at 100 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Xcel had 7,600 megawatts of power available. That gave the utility a reserve margin of 11 percent that could have been used if a power plant failed.
However, Xcel reported no significant outages in its system. The Boulder campus of the University of Colorado had 11 buildings affected by an outage after construction workers damaged a power line. The outage caused the aerospace-engineering and electrical-engineering departments to close for the day.
Power use rises during hot weather because residential and business customers turn on air conditioners, chillers and fans.
Xcel can reduce demand on hot days by implementing voluntary programs that cut power to some business customers and cycle residential air conditioners off and on.
But spokesman Mark Stutz said Xcel, in anticipation of Tuesday’s hot weather, had purchased extra electricity from other utilities and did not need to implement the power-saving programs.
A power shortfall has occurred only once in Xcel’s recent history in Colorado – Feb. 18, 2006, when the Denver temperature fell to 13 below zero and the utility lost nearly half its generation because of equipment and fuel-supply problems, leaving 325,000 customers without power and heat.
Other outages have occurred from failure of high-voltage transmission lines in Colorado or other Western states.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
