Empire sets peak power record

The Empire District Electric Co. announced Tuesday that its customers set a new all-time peak demand for energy at 5 p.m. on Monday. Customers used 1,127 megawatts as the temperature passed 100 degrees.

According to the company, the previous all-time peak of 1,087 megawatts was set on July 22, 2005, with a temperature of 99 degrees.

Empire spokeswoman Amy Bass said the Joplin-based utility anticipates that the demand for energy will continue to grow through the week. The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Springfield is predicting that temperatures in Joplin will exceed 100 degrees through at least Thursday.

Bass said that to meet the demand, the company uses its own generation unless it can purchase energy for less than it costs to generate.

“We use our generation starting with the least expensive and moving through our units to the most expensive,” Bass said.

Empire owns 1,100 megawatts of generating capacity and has another 162 megawatts of purchased power from Westar’s Jeffery Energy Center.

The utility is undertaking a series of capital improvements to boost generating capacity.

About 155 megawatts will be available next year after a $60 million project at Empire’s Riverton, Kan., power plant.

Empire’s contract with Westar expires in 2010, but additional capacity will be available from two other plants.

Empire will own 12 percent, representing about 100 megawatts, of the proposed Iatan 2 plant in Platte County. The company also will own 50 megawatts and purchase another 50 megawatts from Plum Point Energy Station near Osceola, Ark.

The investor-owned utility serves approximately 162,000 electric customers in southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas.