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NEWS RELEASE
September 15, 2005
Contacts:
Rick Sprott, Utah Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-0072
Cheryl Heying, Utah Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-4015
SALT LAKE CITY - PowerForward, Utah’s electricity conservation initiative, completed its fifth season with 8 yellow days for the Wasatch Front and 9 yellow days for the Dixie Area.
“Yellow” days were called when weather conditions and the demand for power pushed expected power needs above available supply.
"July was warmer than normal," explained Rick Sprott, Utah Air Quality Director. "We had many days when temperatures were over 100 degrees. With an increased population and a higher percentage of homes that have air conditioning as opposed to swamp coolers, more electricity is required when temperatures soar."
On yellow days, power users were encouraged to avoid non-essential power use between 2 and 8 p.m., raise air conditioning thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, and turn off appliances not in use. Increasing conservation helped reduce demand, ensuring system reliability. Conservation also helped utility companies avoid paying high prices on the spot market. Spot-market prices eventually get passed on to customers in the form of rate hikes.
In 2004, the Wasatch Front had no yellow days and Dixie had 22 days. There were no red days in either 2004 or 2005. “Red” days are only called when power generation and transmission conditions are threatening electricity supplies and conservation is critical.
PowerForward runs from June 1 to Sept. 15 each year. The Utah Energy Office introduced it in 2001. This year, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality issued the familiar colors of a traffic light - green, yellow and red - to indicate a progression of conservation actions desired of the public based on weather predictions, regional power supplies and market power prices.
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