PHOENIX (AP) — The Salt River Project power utility says it has broken its record for delivering power to its Phoenix-area customers during a heat wave in the U.S. Southwest.
The not-for-profit public power utility delivers electricity and water to some 2 million customers in Phoenix and the rest of central Arizona.
It says that between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday it delivered an estimated peak demand of 7,252 megawatts to retail customers. That topped the utility's previous system peak of 7,219 megawatts on June 20, 2017. One megawatt is enough to power about 225 average homes.
The utility said Wednesday the increased demand is the result of this week's extreme temperatures, which on Tuesday reached 116 degrees in Phoenix, a tie with city's record high set in 2014.