As we move into the hot part of the summer, we’ll be having “peak day” alerts, as we have for the last five years. On those days, the Energy Committee asks you to refrain from using electricity, to the extent you can, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Cool your cottage ahead of time, then turn off your A/C at 4:00. Don’t charge your scooter or electric vehicle then. Avoid using hot water and your electric appliances.

The reason for doing these things is two-fold: KCC gets a big surcharge added to its electric bill for power used during grid peaks, and the least efficient (most polluting) generators are called into service during these peaks. We want to minimize the surcharge and limit the use of polluting generators, if we can. For a much more complete explanation, see this post.

Two things to remember:

  1. Peaks are determined by how much electricity our region of the grid uses, not how much we use here at KCC. If we have hot weather and peak usage in our area but, say, Virginia (which is part of our grid region) is relatively cool, there won’t be a grid peak.
  2. This isn’t about saving electricity (although that is obviously a good thing), it is about shifting electrical usage out of the peak period. So if you make your place nice and cool before 4 p.m. on a peak day, then turn off the A/C, you are saving both money and the usage of dirty generators even though you may not save any electricity at all.

To make sure you participate on “peak alert” days, watch for the yard signs, posters, and web notifications. They will be starting to appear soon.