Extreme heat and humidity in July and early August contributed to set several new electric generation records at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station operated by the Northern Indiana Public Service Company in Wheatfield.

According to a statement released today, the station generated more than 1 million megawatt hours of electricity in July, only the third time in the station’s history that a monthly generation exceeded 1 million megawatt hours.

“These past heat waves have tested new boundaries for our fleet of generating stations and we were focused on providing our customers with a reliable supply of electricity,” NIPSCO President Mark Maassel said. “We are proud of all employees for safely meeting customer demand during some of the hottest days on record.”

Across the nation, NIPSCO said, demand for electricity reached an all-time record during the heat wave. The Edison Electric Institute is reporting that U.S. utilities delivered 96,314 gigawatt hours of electricity for the week ending July 22, surpassing the record of 95,259 gigawatt hours set last year during the week ending July 23.

The National Climatic Data Center is reporting for its part that this July was the second hottest July on record across the continental U.S., breaking more than 2,300 daily temperature records, NIPSCO said.

Schahfer set two other records in July, NIPSCO added. On July 25 the station generated 37,511 megawatt hours of electricity. To put that figure in context, NIPSCO said, one megawatt of electricity is enough to power between 800 and 1,000 homes.

Then, on July 26, the station’s coal handling department bunkered more than 21,000 tons of coal.

NIPSCO operates three generating stations: Schahfer, built from 1976 to 1986; Bailly in Chesterton, built from 1962-68; and Michigan City in Michigan City, built from 1950-74.

Posted 8/10/2006