LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — With the latest round of extreme heat blanketing the Las Vegas Valley this week, you're probably blasting your air conditioning or using a lot of fans to stay cool, and you might be wondering how that impacts our power grid.
"It's a big concern; everybody should be concerned about that," said Robert Gonzalez.
VIDEO: Channel 13 asks NV Energy about how the heat impacts our power grid
Gonzalez has lived in Las Vegas for decades, so he knows a thing or two about our scorching summers.
"The hotter it gets, everybody drops their A/C to 68," Gonzalez said. "Trust me, when it's 115, it's never going to get to 68 [inside your house]."
But the more people push their A/C to try and stay cool, the more strain is put on our power grid.
Representatives from NV Energy gave Channel 13 a tour behind the scenes at their headquarters, and say a lot of the work they do there prepares them for whatever Mother Nature throws our way, especially extreme heat.
"We spend all year long preparing for a day like today," said NV Energy Senior VP of Energy Delivery Jesse Murray.
Murray says a "day like today" means an energy demand from the community of 6,000 megawatts—for context, Murray says our all-time peak energy demand was around 6,200 megawatts last summer, our hottest summer on record.
"If you compare that to a winter day here in Southern Nevada, that number may only be 2,000 or 2,500 megawatts," Murray said.
Murray said that means they have to design our power grid to potentially deliver three times the amount of energy than they would most of the year during peak summer heat, and added that NV Energy actually generates a majority of the power they distribute.
"So over 50% of the resources that we are supplying to our customers are from solar resources," Murray told Channel 13 around 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
In order to do that, Murray says crews spend a lot of the year making sure their generating facilities are well maintained, and NV Energy has meteorologists on staff who specialize in extreme weather.
"They're giving our operational teams multiple days of advance notice of when we could possibly see a change in weather, so that we have time to prepare," Murray said.
According to Murray, that preparation has resulted in NV Energy never implementing rolling brownouts—when there's a higher demand for energy than they're able to deliver—here in the Las Vegas valley.
Plus, crews prepare the grid for all kinds of severe weather year-round, but summer's extreme heat is their biggest focus.
Channel 13 asked Murray what his message is to people who are concerned about maintaining power when it gets this hot.
"Everything we can do, we have done to make sure that the power is reliable," Murray replied. "That being said, customers can help—the lower the demand on the grid, the less it's strained."
That means keeping your thermostat closer to 78 degrees and not using your appliances during the hottest part of the day, while we all dream of cooler weather.
For more tips on keeping your home cool while staying energy efficient during extreme heat, visit NV Energy's website by clicking here.
