ALERT: Peak shaving Friday, Dec. 29

Due to the very cold weather,the Energy Services Dept. will do peak shaving tomorrow, Dec. 29th from 7am until 9am. You can help by putting off heavy electrical usage until later in the day.

Peak shaving is a technique that is used to reduce electrical power consumption during periods of maximum demand on the power utility. Thus saving substantial amounts of money due to peaking charges.

Peak shaving also helps the utility provide maximum base load power without starting an expensive to operate peaking generator. In the long-term peak shaving lets the utility reduce its investment in costly new power plants. Their customers who install on-site generating equipment share in those savings, by receiving reduced power rates year round.

Peak demand typically occurs between 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM during the months of July and August, which is the same time non-industrial consumers typically demand the maximum power for family activities and air conditioning.

For Front Royal, the peak demand in during the winter months. The Town Energy Dept will use several techniques to reduce the peak demand on our electric grid.

Typically power companies have a tiered rate structure which involves not only the amount of electricity consumed, but also takes into account when the electricity is consumed. It is common for a facility participating in peak shaving to experience a net energy savings of between 10% and 30% of their electricity bill.

Peak shaving systems use generators and paralleling equipment which allows the generator to monitor the electric grid, startup as necessary and synchronize frequencies with the grid. An added benefit of this equipment would be backup power in case of rolling backups and grid outages.