Residents who live anywhere in Alberta province have been asked to power down as much as possible to conserve energy. The request to reduce the amount of electricity that is used was sent by The Alberta Electric System Operator, and there were several things that made the request necessary. Alberta province has seen some excessively high temperatures and heat recently so power demand is already high as residents try to keep cool in any way they can. There has been little wind and this is also a factor, because there is not enough wind to generate the power required for unlimited electric use by Alberta province residents. In addition a number of the company generators are off line for various reasons, and this has caused the utility to operate close to their maximum capacity.
Some tips offered by Alberta province in order to help residents conserve power include:
- Turn off lights as you leave a room
- Unplug appliances when they are not in use. Even if you are not running the blender it will still pull a small amount of electricity if it is plugged in.
- Install room darkening blinds or just plain old shades on your windows. This will help eliminate direct sunlight into your home or office which can heat things up quickly and require power for cooling.
- Wait until night to do laundry or run the dishwasher. There is usually a lower demand for power at night and you will use less because it is typically cooler at this time because the sun has gone down.