As communities across Florida endured a record-breaking influx of cold air, utilities across the state were busy not only trying to ensure power went uninterrupted but also warning customers to conserve electricity.
Utilities said the outreach was aimed at preventing potential strain on the electrical grid, especially during periods of maximum use.
“With colder temperatures around the state, electricity use is higher than usual across Florida. To help ease the strain on the electric grid, we’re asking our members to conserve energy at home or at work on Monday, February 2, between 5:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Small actions can go a long way - try adjusting your thermostat or holding off on using large appliances during this time,” one of several utility groups told customers.
Overnight temperatures plunged 20 to 30 degrees below typical values, with air readings reported in the teens across parts of the Florida Panhandle, while the mercury fell into the 40s in the Florida Keys.
Despite the bitter cold, no widespread blackouts were reported, although frozen pipes were a common casualty during the record-breaking event.
Preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed electricity demand across Florida peaked at more than 1 million megawatt-hours on Feb. 1, marking the highest value in recent memory.
Clay Electric, which serves customers in at least 15 North Florida counties, set a record peak demand of 998 megawatts on Feb. 1. One day later, on Feb. 2, demand climbed even higher, reaching an estimated 1,036 megawatts.
The recent demand surpassed the cooperative’s previous winter peak of 970 megawatts, which occurred during a cold snap in January 2010.
Seminole Electric, which supplies power to several cooperatives across the state, also reported record demand.
The cooperative reported a preliminary peak demand figure of 4,421 megawatts during the cold snap.
Other large utilities, including Duke Energy, JEA and others serving, reported elevated power usage but did not exceed previous records.
FPL, the state’s largest electric utility, which serves more than 6 million customers from the Florida-Georgia border to Miami, did not respond to inquires with usage figures from the event.
Energy experts noted that while summer typically produces long-lasting periods of high demand, winter cold snaps often generate the highest daily peaks.
Heating systems are generally less efficient than air conditioning in Florida, causing electricity usage to spike during cold weather.
According to the EIA, Florida ranks as the third-largest consumer of electricity in the nation, behind only Texas and California.
Consequently, the state does not produce enough electricity to meet all of its power needs, particularly during seasonal spikes, meaning imports are necessary to keep up with demand.
An estimated nine out of every 10 Floridians use electricity as their primary energy source for home heating, ranking the state at or near the top of the list nationally.
Agencies generally use 65 degrees as the benchmark threshold for determining when households rely on heat, known as a heating degree day, or an HDD.
Conversely, any value above 65 degrees is considered a cooling degree day or a CDD.
These calculations are used to quantify the amount of energy needed to maintain indoor comfort throughout the year.
According to the EIA, the average number of HDDs in the U.S. typically ranges from 3,700 to 4,700 per year, while CDDs generally range from 1,200 to 1,600 annually.
However, warmer cities in Florida may see fewer than 200 HDDs annually and more than 3,000 CDDs, depending on the climate.
A day with an average temperature of 65 °F is considered to have accumulated neither HDDs nor CDDs, while a day with an average temperature of 55 °F results in 10 HDDs.
Conversely, a day with an average temperature of 80 °F is considered to have 15 CDDs, because the temperature is 15 degrees above the baseline.
In Florida, average low temperatures, which significantly influence the daily mean temperature, generally remain above the 65-degree mark across South Florida starting around March 1, while it can be as late as Memorial Day in the Panhandle before daily lows eclipse the figure.
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