Here are a few questions we ask ourselves when deciding whether to declare a Peak Day for the following day:
- Is tomorrow likely to be the hottest day of the month? Higher temperatures mean air conditioners work harder and longer, meaning more strain on the system.
- Are we expected to have several days of high temperatures in a row? If so, it's likely that the Peak Day will occur after a few days of high temperatures rather than right away.
- What does the electrical load on the system look like? Is it reasonable to expect that it might reach the highest point of the month tomorrow?
- Has KEPCo (our power supplier) declared a Peak Day? Just because KEPCo declares a Peak Day doesn't mean we will—sometimes our interpretation of the data is a little different—but their forecast does inform our decision-making process.
When examining weather and load data, we have to consider areas beyond just Heartland's system, because KEPCo's Peak Days are based on usage throughout all of the areas served by KEPCo including parts of western Kansas.