Aug 14 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Dan Gearino The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio



Power companies are not sweating the hot weather.

Electricity demand is up from last year, utilities say, but the need is nowhere close to maxing out available capacity.

Demand in central Ohio peaked for the year at 4,289megawatts on July 23, according to American Electric Power. That was much less than the record high for the region, 4,723megawatts on Aug.8, 2007.

"We have adequate supply right now to meet the demands we're seeing," said Melissa McHenry, an AEP spokeswoman.

 One reason is the economic downturn, which has led to a decrease in electricity usage by businesses. This leaves plenty of capacity to power home air conditioners on sweltering days.

Columbus' average temperature has been 77.9 degrees in August, up 3.2 degrees from normal, according to the National Weather Service.

That level, with an average daily high temperature of 87.7 degrees, is uncomfortable, but it's far from the mid-90s and higher figures needed to break records.

Another Ohio utility, FirstEnergy, is also indicating that it has plenty of excess capacity. The Akron-based company said yesterday that it will temporarily shut down some smaller plants in Ohio, though the plants can return to service in three days if needed.

"While we've seen signs of economic recovery in the first half of this year compared with 2009, customer demand is still well below 2008 levels," Gary R. Leidich, executive vice president of FirstEnergy, said in a statement.

Other parts of the country have had more severe heat, such as the Northeast. This is one reason that PJM Interconnection, an organization that oversees the movement of electricity from Indiana to New England, is reporting record power usage for July.

"The higher electricity loads we're seeing are definitely because of the weather," Michael Kormos, PJM's senior vice president for operations, said in a statement.

Central Ohio is part of PJM, though demand hasn't been as high here as in other parts of its territory.

This week, the Department of Energy projected a 4 percent increase in electricity usage for the year, a change it attributes largely to high summer temperatures.

The increase is not nearly enough for concerns about supply.

"We have fair amount of cushion built into our demand for electricity," said Paul Franzen, senior utility analyst for Edward Jones.

That is a good thing, though it arises from a bad thing: the slow economic recovery. Industrial demand is up from last year but still short of normal.

Until businesses begin running at full power, there will be plenty of electricity to go around.

dgearino@dispatch.com

(c) 2010, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services  To subscribe or visit go to:  www.mcclatchy.com/