BY LAURA GOLDBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cinergy Corp. canceled its plea Friday evening for Greater Cincinnatians to conserve energy. It doesn't expect to ask customers to cut their power use over the weekend.
Cinergy Corp., parent company of Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. and PSI Energy Inc., praised residents and businesses for heeding calls Thursday and Friday to conserve. That response and Cinergy's ability to buy power from other sources helped prevent potential problems.
John C. Procario, vice president of electric system operations, said Friday evening that customers "have shown excellent cooperation with our requests for voluntary conservation."
As the Tristate baked Thursday and Friday, Cinergy issued "voluntary conservation requests," such as asking customers to turn air conditioning to no cooler than 78 degrees and delay using electrical appliances such as clothes dryers and ovens until late evening.< p>
Peak time for electricity use is usually 4-6 p.m. weekdays. Demand is lower on weekends as industrial and business use declines.
Thursday, the Cinergy system registered a record peak-demand high of 10,249 megawatts at 5 p.m. The previous high was 10,119 megawatts on July 28, 1997.
Friday's peak demand should be available Monday.
Cinergy instituted no brownouts (reductions in voltages that cause lights to be less bright) and no rolling blackouts, Cinergy spokesman Steven Brash said. But some customers located at the end of a distribution circuit may have seen a slight voltage reduction.
Scattered equipment failures caused a small number of power failures that were quickly restored, he said.
"Overall, the voltage on our system is holding up very well," he said.
It's hot and it's not over yet
