Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.

SMEU: Heat wave hasn’t broken records yet

It’s been hot, but it’s going to get hotter still.

The heat wave that has been around since last week will peak on Monday, according to the National Weather Service, which has issued a heat advisory for portions of the Hill Country, the Interstate 35 corridor and the coastal plans through 7 p.m. Monday. An even more serious excessive heat warning will be in effect during the same time for Llano, Burnet, Williamson, Travis, Bastrop and Lee counties including the Austin metro area.

Those warnings correspond to air temperatures today and Monday ranging from 103 to 108 degrees along the corridor, the NWS says.

Conditions have understandably put the state’s electric grid to the test but locally, according to Tyler Hjorth, director of the San Marcos Electric Utility, Mother Nature’s flirtation with 100 degree days hasn’t set any records pertaining to local consumption.

“Usage this week is right at the previous July record set in 2016, but the city of San Marcos has not actually broken a record this week,” he said on Friday. “We did break records in May and set an all-time peak for June on June 6 and we expect to set more records this summer.”

Hjorth said the “initial load forecasts for this summer predicted a 2.3 precent increase over the previous record high. We have already seen a 3.0 percent increase this week, and I anticipate the peak demand will exceed the 2016 highs by closer to 4 percent.”

SMEU’s all-time peak was set on Jan. 16 of this year when the utility’s 25,000 meters recorded usage of 127, 240 kilowatts. On June 6, the usage was 123,508 kilowatts, he said.

The bulk of the city’s electricity comes from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) who generates power at both natural gas and hydroelectric plants, he said. “The city also has wind powered energy contracts that provide 15 percent of our purchased power.”

San Marcos Record

(512) 392-2458
P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666