Power Engineering - Tucson energy use reaches record levels during summer of 2003

TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 10, 2003 -- Tucson Electric Power customers used record amounts of electricity during July and August as the growing population in the company's service territory endured hotter than usual weather.

Energy use by TEP customers on 19 days during July and August exceeded last summer's previous record peak load of 1899 megawatts (MW). The company's new energy use record was set Aug. 12 when demand from TEP's customers averaged 2060 MW during the 4 p.m. hour.

That 8.5 percent increase in peak energy use was due in part to population growth in TEP's service territory. TEP was serving 363,616 customers as of July 31, 2003, a 2.3 percent increase from the same date in 2002.
Tucson's weather was hotter than usual during July and early August. The number of cooling degree days in July 2003 was 13 percent above normal and 20 percent above the level recorded in July 2002. Cooling degree days document the cumulative number of degrees by which the mean temperature exceeds 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

This summer's record energy use tested TEP's ability to keep up with Tucson's growth, said James S. Pignatelli, chairman, president and chief executive officer of TEP and its parent company, UniSource Energy Corp. (NYSE: UNS).

"Our system is designed to provide safe, reliable service to a growing desert community, and that's exactly what happened this summer," Pignatelli said. "We will continue to make investments to ensure system reliability for our customers."

Earlier this summer, TEP invested approximately $10 million in a new 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line that enhances the link between TEP's distribution system and the regional transmission system. This investment provides TEP customers with additional protection from transmission line failures while increasing overall reliability for the entire service territory.

TEP also supported the Arizona Corporation Commission's "Track B" bidding process by purchasing 87 MW of power from independent producers in Arizona. Those purchases included 37 MW from June through December from the PPL Sundance Energy plant near Coolidge and 50 MW from June through September from the Panda Gila River Power Station in Gila Bend.

That plant is a joint venture between TECO Power Services and Panda Energy International.
Tucson Electric Power Co., Arizona's second-largest investor-owned utility, serves more than 360,000 customers in Southern Arizona. It is the principal subsidiary of UniSource Energy Corp. To learn more about TEP, visit www.tucsonelectric.com.

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