Melbourne: 42,000 homes in dark, no fans left at Kmart. Power outages due to “secret” air conditioners!

The temperature reached 38C in Melbourne (100F) on Sunday — something it has probably done at least once most summers since 10,000BC.

CitiPower, Powercor and the United Energy spokeswoman Emma Tyner said that as of 9.25pm, about 41,190 homes were without power across those three networks. – Sydney Morning Herald

But why? Ms Tyner says demand increased:

“The extreme heat has significantly increased electricity use and this has resulted in localised power outages,” Ms Tyner said.

Though this was far from a record On Sunday, peak electricity demand was 9,124MW, about 13% less than the all time peak of 10,496MW in 2009. (In case you are wondering, Hazelwood produced 1600MW or about 25% of Victorian baseload power.)

Mr Armstrong from Ausnet Services (another power company) blamed unreported air conditioners:

“There are a lot fuses blowing in the hot weather and a significant power pull with people having put in air-conditioners they didn’t tell us about,” Mr Armstrong said.

Who knew you needed to tell your power company when you put in an air conditioner? Gone are the days when people could willy-nilly run down to Retrovision and just buy an air con.

Ms Tyner and Mr Armstrong […]