In spite of a mild winter, electrical consumption rose in the City of Penticton this winter.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
March 20, 2015 - 2:29 PM
PENTICTON - A warmer winter doesn’t seem to have reduced the need for electricity in the city.
One might expect electrical consumption to drop in the wake of a milder winter with a presumed reduced need for electrical power for heating purposes, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, according to city and Ministry of Environment statistics.
Electrical consumption in Penticton rose this year over last, in spite of more benign winter conditions. A comparison of four months electrical consumption between November, 2013 - February, 2014; and November 2014 - February, 2015, showed an increase of 3,273,301 kwh/kva, a 2.69 per cent increase over last winter.
“The mild temperatures were noticed this year,” Penticton Communications Officer Simone Blais says. She could not explain why electrical consumption increased, but noted the figures included industrial and commercial usage as well.
According to Environment Canada records for Penticton, the average monthly mean temperatures for November through February for both winters break down as follows:
November 2013 (1.9), November 2014 (1.7)
December 2013 (-2.6), December 2014 (0.7)
January 2014 (0.2), January 2015 (0.9)
February 2014 (-2.7), February 2015 (4.6)
Only November shows a colder average monthly mean temperature, and then only by 0.2 degrees. From December through February, however, it was quite a bit milder this year over last.
Consumers were subject to a 4.4 per cent increase in city rates on February 1 of this year.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015