EWEB officials say last week’s heat wave saw the highest summertime power usage in nearly two decades.
The last time the Eugene area used this much electricity in the summer was in 2006 when a microchip manufacturer was on the grid.
The facility’s now closed, but a growing number of EWEB customers have changed their habits.
"Demand has ticked back up in recent years as more and more people get air conditioning units, and get electric vehicles,” said EWEB spokesperson Aaron Orlowski. “We're just seeing that demand steadily rising."
Orlowski said there are also far more hot days straining the grid.
“It used to be in Oregon in the summer that the temperature rarely went above 100 degrees,” he said. “But here in Eugene, according to weather data, we had the highest number of hundred plus degree days in 2015. There were seven of them, and already this year we've had five days above 100 degrees and it's early July.”
Orlowski said this heat wave was early enough in the summer that water levels were high enough for EWEB to meet the demand.
He said if another heat wave hits the region in the next few months - the utility may have to ask people to cut back during peak times like it did last year.
In anticipation of more hot days ahead, EWEB is negotiating its contract with the Bonneville Power Administration to increase its supply of power and look for ways to generate more energy locally.
Springfield Utility Board said last week’s heat wave was also the second highest summertime usage it has recorded in recent memory. Its highest usage on record was during the 2021 heat dome.
Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the nature of the record that was nearly broken. It was a record for summertime usage. EWEB says winter peak demand is always higher than summer. KLCC regrets the error.
