MLGW Customers Using More Electricity To Beat The Heat

(Memphis)  On most mornings, you’ll find Aretha King sitting, reading and praying on her South Memphis porch.

But by midday Friday, the suffocating heat forced her inside, “Well, it’s been pretty rough.”
           
What’s rough, is the extremely hot temperatures.

It means King has to keep her air conditioning running day and night, “It’s working overtime because I don’t cut it off. I never cut it off.”
     
She’s averaging a $250 a month Memphis Light, Gas and Water bill, “I don’t mind paying more because I know it’s important that my grandson,who is disabled, is comfortable and myself is comfortable.”
     
The sweltering heat is giving Kevin Westmoreland’s A/C unit, and his pocketbook a workout to stay cool, “You really don’t have much choice, but to try to stay cool. So, what can you do?”

In fact, Memphis is using more electricity than any other part of the country.

Glen Thomas, the MLGW Communications Supervisor, says, “I think it’s a reflection of the hot summer. Memphis uses 32% more electricity than the national average and that’s a reflection of the weather.”
        
This week, the scorching hot temperatures had MLGW reaching its peak load for electricity usage for 2012.
 
More than 3,158 megawatts was used Thursday, but it still falls short of the all-time peak of 3,533 megawatts set five years ago.

Thomas said their system is holding up well, but he says there are things you can do to reduce the power drain, “We recommend 78 degrees or higher, ceiling fans in your home or box fans to circulate the air, that helps and turn off appliances, those energy vampires such as TVs and computers.”
      
For now, Aretha King says she won’t be turning off her A/C anytime soon, “I like it cool. I have to keep it cool.”