Frosty Alberta breaks power use record

Albertans shivering through a cold snap used a record amount of electricity on Monday, hitting a high of 10,046 megawatts during the supper hour.

That broke the Dec. 15, 2008, record of 9,806 megawatts, according to the Alberta Electric System Operator.

The province's electricity providers were predicting heavy demand on Monday as Albertans turned up the heat in offices after a cold weekend, powered seasonal lighting displays and plugged in vehicle block heaters.

Calgarians were asked to avoid using big appliances as the temperature plunged to a low of –27 C at 8 a.m. on Monday.

That warning may have kept Calgary from breaking its power consumption record, also set on Dec. 15, 2008. According to Enmax, the city-owned utility, the city's peak consumption on Monday was 1,597 megawatts at 5:45 p.m. The record is 1,632 megawatts.

The bone-chilling conditions in Calgary followed a weekend blizzard that dumped 10 centimetres of snow on Friday alone while high winds severely cut visibility on roads and highways.