British Columbians set a record for May electricity use Monday night, BC Hydro says

Demand for electricity in British Columbia Monday night was the highest it's ever been in the month of May, according to BC Hydro.

As it predicted it would last week, the power company saw a new record for its highest ever May peak hourly demand between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday. 

"Peak hourly demand" refers to the hour during which customers use the most electricity. BC Hydro says a preliminary analysis of Monday's consumption found customers used nearly 7,600 megawatts of power during the peak.

The company attributes the abnormally high demand to B.C. residents turning to air conditioning and fans during the record-setting early season heat wave that has gripped much of the province since Friday.

"With temperatures decreasing, BC Hydro does not expect the latest record to fall in the coming days," the utility says in a statement Tuesday.

"However, demand for power is expected to remain higher-than-average this week," BC Hydro says, adding that it has the capacity to handle the load.

While electricity usage has been abnormally high for May over the last few days, demand is only about two-thirds of what is typically recorded on the coldest days of the year.

BC Hydro data shows that since 2017, residential electricity demand has increased by 12 per cent from June through August, which the power authority believes is linked to a rise in the use of air conditioning in people's homes.

“Climate change has made access to AC increasingly vital as summer temperatures increase," BC Hydro spokesperson Susie Rieder said in a statement last summer.

Last year, BC Hydro said one quarter of British Columbians had purchased or upgraded their AC systems, with 72 per cent of those people reporting they were motivated to do so due to increasingly severe and frequent summer heat.

"AC use increased by about 50 per cent over the past decade, from a quarter of British Columbians using it at home to nearly 40 per cent, but we still see far greater demand for electricity in the winter months,” said Rieder at the time.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Becca Clarkson