Reducing peak demand
What is peak demand?
Peak demand refers to the times of day when our electricity consumption is at its highest.
Perth’s annual peak demand occurs in summer during prolonged heat waves, usually between 4pm and 8pm when most people arrive home and switch on their air conditioners, TVs, lights and other household appliances. Air conditioner use amounts to nearly one third of the power consumed on the hottest days in January, February and March.
The peak demand during winter occurs on very cold weekday evenings when people heat their homes. Winter peak demand is slightly lower than summer peak demand, but has a significant impact in some areas of the Western Power Network.
- Record summer peak MW: 4,068.0 (25 January 2012)
- Record winter peak MW: 3,330.7 (25 June 2012)
Why reducing peak demand is a good idea
Saving electricity during the peak demand period is beneficial to the community and the electricity system.
Supplying electricity for an ever increasing peak demand requires building more electricity infrastructure such as generators and higher capacity powerlines. Ultimately customers pay to build this infrastructure through increases in the price of power even though much of it goes unused for the remainder of the year.
On very hot weekdays the community can help reduce peak demand by limiting use of major appliances between 4pm and 8pm.
Live display of the current usage for our systems
The Western Power Network Electricity Demand (MW) graphics are representative of megawatts (MW) system generation at specific time intervals as a guide to network energy consumption.
The information on the graphics are provided for general educational or informative purposes only. While Western Power has attempted to make the information as accurate as possible, there is no express or implied guarantee given as to the accuracy or currency of it and Western Power accepts no responsibility and disclaims all liability in respect of loss caused due to any errors or inaccuracies. Reliance on the information is at your own risk. The information should not be used for technical purposes without first verifying the accuracy of the information.
