Saskatchewan breaks summer power use record

Saskatchewan used enough power Monday to break the province's previous summer record.

The power grid registered a peak demand of 3,360 megawatts at 3:01 p.m. CST, beating the previous record of 3,331 MW.

The increase of 29 MW is the equivalent of power used by29,000 homes.

The winter power demand record still stands at 3,747 MW.

Ten communities reached temperatures over 35 C on Monday.

SaskPowerattributes records to increasing year-round power demand from homes and businesses.

It says cooling and heating representabout a quarter of residential power bills and that changing the temperature setting by few degrees can make a big difference in power consumption and power bills.

It also says having air conditioning units inspected may improve energy efficiency, as they may not remove humidity wellif the system is not the right size for the spaceor the airflow is incorrect.