Energy records broken as Snohomish County shivers

EVERETT — If you were getting out of bed, turning up your heat and getting into a hot shower about 8 a.m. Thursday, you were far from the only one.

That’s the moment when the Snohomish County PUD recorded one of the highest electricity usage spikes in its history, spokesman Neil Neroutsos said.

It’s also the same time, when Puget Sound Energy recorded the highest electricity use ever in its nine-county service area, which does not include Snohomish County.

The cold snap this week that produced several record low temperatures around the Puget Sound region kept use of electricity and natural gas close to all-time highs, officials said.

Puget Sound Energy supplies natural gas to six counties, including Snohomish County. The utility’s all-time record systemwide for natural gas was broken twice this past week, spokeswoman Dorothy Bracken said.

The utility first broke its gas record Monday, when 791,096 mmbtu, a standard natural gas measurement, were used across its service area in a 24-hour period, Bracken said. Numbers for Snohomish County alone were not available.

The previous record of 785,043 was set Dec. 20 of last year, she said. The wintertime average is about 500,000 mmbtu, she said.

Monday’s record stood only two days. It was broken in the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. Wednesday, when 812,813 mmbtu were used, Bracken said.

All of Snohomish County’s electricity comes through Snohomish County PUD. At 8 a.m. Thursday, the utility hit its sixth-highest use point ever, at 1,531 megawatts, Neroutsos said.

The average wintertime level for the utility is about 1,000 megawatts, he said.

“We did go over 1,500 several times this week,” Neroutsos said. “It was more of a sustained high usage level.”

The all-time high was set in December 1990 at 1,602 megawatts, Neroutsos said. The second-highest usage peak occurred Dec. 20, 2008, at 1,560 megawatts. Other high points were in 2008, 1998 and 1990, he said.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439, sheets@heraldnet.com.