Plunging temperatures are sending electricity demand soaring, leading to severe weather warnings and keeping furnace repairmen on their toes.
This week's cold snap brought a stark end to what had been a relatively balmy winter and the cold is promising to linger through the rest of the week.
Environment Canada issued a weather warning on Tuesday as temperatures were set to dip to as low as -35 C, combining with a light wind to a cold that would feel like between -40 C and -50 C.
The agency warned that in those conditions exposed skin could suffer frostbite in less than 10 minutes.
Power use rises
The deep freeze sent power meters spinning to record heights. Power use reached an all-time high of 10,315 megawatts at 6 p.m. on Sunday only to see that record shattered again with another spike of 10,609 megawatts on Monday at the same time.
Joelle Lamontagne, who works on energy efficiency for Fortis Alberta, said the cold is working with a number of factors to push up demand.
"Coupled with that, we are in the shortest days of the year so lights are coming on earlier and so that is impacting that as well."
She said to help ease the strain on the grid as well as on household power bills Fortis was encouraging customers to reduce their consumption with the usual suggestions of using more efficient appliances and energy saving lightbulbs.
She also encouraged anyone who plugs in their car at night to consider doing so on a timer rather than leaving it plugged in all night, because most block heaters only need a few hours of power to keep a car warm.
"That is something that is not completely necessary, your car only needs about three hours to be plugged in."
She said power has tended to spike around the supper hour when people arrive home from work and she also suggested people consider using large appliances at off-peak times.
"If you need to do a load of laundry try to be conscious of doing that after 8 p.m. or even on the weekend."
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) said despite the record so far the system can handle the strain on the grid.
Dawn Delaney, spokesperson for the agency, said they have a reserve power generating capacity that they're not yet using and have contingency plans that will kick into effect before anything serious takes place.
She said while reducing power consumption is always a good idea for consumers the province isn't at the point where they need to plead for it.
"At this point we are nowhere near having to evoke a public appeal to reduce demand on the grid."
Three power-generating stations went down on Tuesday putting greater pressure on the system, but Delaney said even with those shutdowns the AESO was able to handle the situation.
"Things are definitely tighter on the grid, given these outages, but it is definitely still manageable."
Furnace trouble
The phones at A1 Heating in St. Albert have been ringing with a steady volume since the cold snap really hit. Curtis Crouse, a manager there, said one simple step homeowners can do to keep their furnace running is to keep the filter clean.
"The more airflow a furnace has the better it operates," he said. "It is a very common oversight by customers and it is something that people can do on their own to make sure their furnace stays healthy."
School boards react
Schools in St. Albert were functioning as close to normal as possible in the cold weather.
Paula Power, spokesperson for St. Albert Protestant schools, said the schools are open and students are staying inside for recess, but in large part it is business as usual.
The extreme cold isn't kind to the division's buses however, and she said problems could be possible as the deep freeze continued.
"It is always a little more tenuous at this time of year and parents should definitely have a back-up plan in place. There can be trouble with buses starting in this type of weather."
Carol Bruineman with Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools said they were taking similar steps. She said the board guideline is to keep students inside if the temperature with wind chill is below -18 but individual schools can set their own limits. If the temperature without wind chill is below -40 C buses in rural areas won't run.
