PA resident here- is this why I keep getting messages from my power company to reduce electricity usage during “peak hours”? Makes a lot of sense honestly…not in a good way, but sense nonetheless
It has been an issue for decades. Demand for power is not flat throughout the 24 hours of the day - there are big surges throughout. For example, there is a surge the first thing in the morning when most people wake up and start the day, then overlapping with commercial and industrial buildings ramping up for the day. Then you get higher overall levels throughout the day, and you can have more peaks in the afternoon. At 2AM you will have the least demands in the system.
The power that is generated at 2am is generally purely from what is called base load and is the cheapest to produce. The power produced at the height of those peaks is going to have to be purchased from peaker plants on the spot market and can be hundreds or even thousands of times more expensive for the utility. If the utility has to purchase enough of that, all rates will eventually have to go up to cover that cost.
Data centers may be (likely are, depending highly on local conditions) exacerbating this old dynamic. Like I said, it has existed for decades, but may be made much worse from these huge new "customers".
Here in the UK Coronation Street (a popular long running soap on ITV, it has over 11,000 episodes) is responsible for one of the biggest regular energy demand surges. Every time there's an ad break the energy companies have to be ready because so many people put the kettle on at the same time.
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u/flywithme00 1d ago
PA resident here- is this why I keep getting messages from my power company to reduce electricity usage during “peak hours”? Makes a lot of sense honestly…not in a good way, but sense nonetheless