Hot weather calls for cutting electrical use

Batavia is again urging electrical customers to turn thermostats up and lights off during peak-use times this summer.

Peak Alert No. 1 was from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday. Messages were sent late Thursday afternoon to more than 800 users who had signed up for notices on the city's eNews service at cityofbatavia.net.

Friday, with temperatures topping 90, was a "local area, Northern Illinois" peak, according to the alert. The city also expects to have peaks Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The price of power, which Batavia buys and sells, has been going down at night. Peak times usually happen in the afternoons.

Peak times happen when regional electrical use is at or near capacity. Gas- and oil-powered generation plants are then fired up to meet the excess demand, but they cost more to operate than the normal coal- and nuclear-powered plants. That extra cost is passed on to Batavia consumers in a fluctuating adjustable factor charge.

"It worked pretty well last year," said Bob Rogde, Batavia's electrical superintendent. He credits that to the work of Betsy Zinser of the Batavians for Clean Energy committee, who organized promotions with local merchants for peak days. People who signed up for alerts received discount coupons for restaurants, coffee shops and other Batavia amenities, to be used on those days. Rogde said a similar program is being developed for this year, but was not ready as of Friday.

"It (peak use) is coming on us a little quicker than we thought," he said.

Tips from the city to reduce electrical use during peak times include:

• Raise the temperature on the air-conditioning;

• Pull down window shades, to keep sun from heating the house;

• Postpone doing the laundry until evening; and

• Prepare dinner later in the evening.

Geneva has also started sending out peak load advisories, via its Twitter account. To sign up for City of Geneva tweets, visit twitter.com/CityofGeneva.