According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Heat Wave Results in Highest U.S. Electricity Demand Since 2017:
From July 15 through July 22, 2019, a heat wave extending from the Midwest to the Atlantic coast brought extremely high temperatures and humidity to those regions. The high temperatures resulted in elevated demand for electricity to power air conditioners, dehumidifiers, fans, and other cooling equipment. In the hour ending at 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, July 19, hourly electricity demand in the Lower 48 states peaked at 704 gigawatts (GW), according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) U.S. Electric System Operating Data. Electricity demand has not been this high since July 20, 2017, nearly two years ago, when electricity demand in the Lower 48 states hit 718 GW.
NB: The EIA site was giving errors when trying to access the details page for this story. The summary provided here is available on the EIA's main page which is linked to at the top of the story.
[ed: works for me]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 03 2019, @02:47AM
Cheap electricity and AC (invented in Buffalo*) made possible large population growth in the south of the USA. When electricity prices rise, there is likely going to be some migration back north.
* https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/the_last_laugh/2011/07/buffalo-birthplace-of-air-conditioning.html [bizjournals.com]