It is day 2 of what is expected to turn into a heat wave in Toronto;  when there are 3 consecutive days of 32 celcius-plus temperatures.   Yesterday, the city recorded a high temperature of 32.7 degrees celcius as heavy use of air conditioners across Toronto put a strain on the grid.

Toronto Hydro has put out an advisory, asking customers to run AC only when it’s needed.  Toronto Hydro’s Tanya Bruckmueller says you’ll save money by doing so.  She also says, “businesses that keep their doors open for the Summer, will see $500 more approximately on their bill than those businesses that didn’t.”

The increased electrical load, as well as the inability for Toronto Hydro equipment to cool down, can cause localized power outages due to heat-related failure.  Toronto Hydro recommends that you use a programmable thermostat to control the air conditioning during peak-use times.  Power consumption across Ontario hit a record high for the year of 24,000 megawatts around 5pm yesterday.  The all time record for power use in the province was back on August 1st 2006, when nearly 27,000 megawatts was consumed.