TAMPA, Fla. — So many people are blasting the air conditioning trying to beat the record heat in Tampa Bay, Tampa Electric reported customers broke records for the amount of electricity used in a single moment this week.
Jeremy Welsch is one of many residents noticing the surging electricity bills this summer.
“I've noticed personally, it's gone up maybe 20, 30%,” exclaimed Welsch, adding that it’s 3 times higher than any of these other bills.
“I've been extra cautious this summer to save electricity because it's been a really hot one as we've seen this last week, very high humidity and high heat, it seems,” he said.
Tampa Electric said the extreme heat pushed customers to use a record amount of energy, setting a record Tuesday at 4,640 megawatts and beating that on Wednesday evening at 4,754 megawatts. It’s the highest amount of electricity used at any one moment in the company’s history.
“We've had portions of our territory where temperatures reached 97 and the heat index was over 110, and that is what spurring our customers to… hit this peak,” said Cherie Jacobs, a spokesperson for Tampa Electric.
Jacobs said the thermostat is the biggest driver of energy use.
“We suggest you set it at 78 degrees and use your ceiling fans in your room that'll help you feel cooler,” she advised.
Welsch works from home and uses a smart thermostat to keep his house at 77 degrees during the day.
“It turns off during peak hours during the day, so that really helps me cut down on costs a little bit during the summer when I need it,” he explained.
Duke Energy also said they are reaching near-peak levels of usage this week.
“Avoid using large appliances, your washer, your dryer, your dishwasher, during those peak or high demand hours, which are typically around 3 to 8 p.m.,” advised Audrey Stasko with Duke.
Stasko added that customers can also enroll in the Home Energy Check Program.
“It's open to residential customers and some business customers, and you can be a renter, you can be a homeowner, and basically what you'll do is you'll get a free home energy audit which will detail how your house is using energy and ways that you can make small improvements to be more energy efficient,” she explained.
“Once you do that free home energy check, it actually makes you eligible for our home energy improvement rebates program. So if you get that home energy check and they say, ‘Hey, you know, you could really benefit from getting more energy efficient windows,’ and you make those improvements following that energy check… you can qualify for rebates,” Stasko said.
TECO also has programs to help customers save.
Prime Time Plus is a free and easy way to earn credits on your electric bill, saving you money each month. The average customer earns $144 per year. It does this by letting Tampa Electric reduce electricity use during periods of extremely high demand. By reducing demand, we can avoid the need to invest in additional power plants.
Our free Energy Planner program is a powerful tool to save money. It allows you to plan your highest energy use during the time of day when electricity rates are lowest. You can save about a month’s worth of electricity each year – like tossing out one electric bill – by making simple adjustments to the time of day you use electricity.
Tampa Electric is ready to help customers do everything possible to use energy wisely. Complete an online audit.
Because of the extreme heat, Tampa Electric will not disconnect any customers for unpaid bills through at least Aug. 20.
The Florida power grid system is at a low risk for energy shortfalls due to demand, according to the Summer Reliability Assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a nationwide group that monitors the reliability and security of power grids across the country.
Places out west, like Arizona and Texas, are considered elevated of "operational failure" even before these record temperatures.
