Cold Facts, Warm Ideas

On Saturday, January 3rd the San Juan Islands were greeted with gale force arctic winds, which dropped about 2 inches of snow in some places.

By 8:30 a.m., OPALCO was experiencing a record high peak electric load of 60 megawatts (60,000 kilowatts). This is a 50% increase over the same time last year!

Below are two graphs that show the total load on OPALCO’s system for all the islands. These show the two-week period from 12/23 to 1/6 for last year and this year.

Heavy snowfall then hit the San Juan Islands early on Tuesday, the 6th and on into the afternoon, adding another layer of cold.

Here are some photos of Friday Harbor during the storm taken by an OPALCO employee. Click on the photos for a larger version. To see the full gallery of 45 photos, click here.

As a member-owned and operated non-profit cooperative, OPALCO understands the pinch that cold weather can put on your energy buying dollar. Here are just a few tips to help you to use your energy more efficiently:

Weather-strip around your doors and windows and anywhere you feel a draft.

Clean your furnace and heat pump filters to keep them operating efficiently.

Fix broken ducts and replace cracked or peeling tape on ducts.

Remember… contributing factors to a high electric bill may include a 32 day billing period, holidays, long cold winter nights, and frigid arctic winds.

For more energy efficiency tips visit this link.

To view the entire Cold Facts / Warm Ideas brochure, click here. (you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader)