19 Jan 2010

Record power demand in Perth

7:39 am on 19 January 2010

There was record demand for electricity in Perth on Monday as people tried to escape the heat. The temperature was 42.7C at 12:40pm (AWST).

Western Power says air conditioners and big-screen TVs were to blame.

Twenty transformers blew as a result of record power consumption. Thousands of houses were blacked out, some for many hours.

Western Power says the power peak is usually reached in February.

Monday's electricity consumption was almost 4000 megawatts, 10% higher than last year's record.

Western Power says it can't promise electricity supplies there will be no further disruption, the next time Perth is hit by extreme heat.