Montana: NorthWestern Energy seeing more heating demand

Northwestern Energy representatives say that Montana's recent cold weather has been setting records for power use across the region, with the demand setting an all-time high.

When the Arctic cold front blew into Montana the weekend of December 15th, it drove the temperature into the sub-zero range for the first time in a couple of years and also drove up demand for power as people huddled to stay warm.

"Well I can tell you that company wide we hit the highest peak we've ever had" said the utility's Vicki Judd. "It ran about 1,800 megawatts on December 15th, and the previous high was a little over 1,700. And in terms of our gas load on December 14th, we had the highest reportable gas useage as well. In the range of 287,000 mcf of gas, pass through our system. Pretty interesting."

Solar Meets Polar as Winter Curbs Clean Energy - NYTimes.com

Old Man Winter, it turns out, is no friend of renewable energy.

This time of year, wind turbine blades ice up, biodiesel congeals in tanks and solar panels produce less power because there is not as much sun. And perhaps most irritating to the people who own them, the panels become covered with snow, rendering them useless even in bright winter sunshine.

So in regions where homeowners have long rolled their eyes at shoveling driveways, add another cold-weather chore: cleaning off the solar panels.
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Mr. Stankevitz keeps his panels tilted 40 degrees or higher, but they still become covered with snow — and experts say that if even one cell in a panel is covered, the panel will not produce power. [Via Skeptics Global Warming]