OTTAWA — As temperatures hovered at 111 degrees, Ottawans used a record amount of electricity Tuesday. City utilities director Jim Bradley said Ottawans’ power usage pegged at 40.8 megawatts of power. That record, set at mid-afternoon, beat the record of about 40 megawatts, which was set on Monday when the high reached 107. The city had all but one of its generators running Tuesday afternoon and Bradley said the final generator was going on line later in the afternoon. The Stag steam-powered generator and the three ship engines attached to generators were cranking out 20 megawatts when utility crews began starting up the remaining ship engine-generator, he said. Normally, the city buys 23 megawatts a day from other utilities. But Bradley said during hot weather and as electrical demands increase, the cost to buy power becomes so expensive that it’s cheaper for the city to generate its own electricity.
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 10 a.m.
