When the temperature drops, the thermostats usually rise, and with that so does the amount of electricity Albertans consume to try and stay warm during this deep freeze.

Manager of Corporate Communications for FortisAlberta Alana Antonelli says there are a few ways to help curb your energy consumption to help avoid any potential power problems.

“If you have a programmable thermostat just turn down the heat when you’re not home, just not so cold that your pipes will freeze. Close doors in rooms that you’re not using to prevent heat use that you don’t need. Try not to use large appliances during peak demand hours, so those would be between 5:00 and 7:00 PM. Turn down the temperature of your hot water heater if you can, and then another thing you can do is put pipe insulation around hot water pipes to reduce heat loss.”

Antonelli says you can do most of those things yourself but always call in a professional if you are unsure.

On Tuesday when the temperatures were at their lowest at some places in Alberta, we hit a new record high for peak power consumption, according to the Alberta Electric System Operator.

The record was broken by a single megawatt-hour of electricity usage, as across the province homes and business was using 11,698 MW of power during peak times between 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM on Tuesday night, breaking our previous record from January of 2018.

Antonelli says you should already have enough supplies on hand to survive for 72 hours without power, but when it's this cold, you should take it another step further.

“However in these frigid temperatures, you have to be extra careful and make sure that you know where all of your warm things are, your extra blankets and clothing in case you needed them. Make sure you got flashlights, and batteries, and candles, and matches to light those candles. If you got a wood-burning fireplace, that’s fantastic. Another thing that you can do is head down to the basement because in really frigid temperatures the basement will cool off the last, because it’ll draw heat from the ground.”

Temperatures are expected to remain around the -30 mark until at least Sunday, but relief and even temperatures slightly above zero are expected for next week.

Antonelli also suggests limiting power usage during peak times, usually between 4:00 and 7:00 PM. 

For more tips on how to conserve energy in your home, you can head to fortisalberta.com.