US heatwave: Electricity demand expected to hit 12-year high. Will your power bill go up?
Will your power bill in the United States shoot up and disrupt your household budget amid sweltering heatwave? The intense heat is set to begin affecting the mid-Atlantic region on Saturday, with temperatures in Washington DC expected to soar to 100 F (38 C) by Monday. Power generators have been asked to be ready to operate at maximum capacity if needed during the extreme hot weather in the US.
According to the weather office, high temperatures are expected in New York, the biggest city in the US
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At a time when a widespread heatwave is poised to engulf the eastern and central parts of the United States, the power prices soared to their highest. The triple-digit temperatures had forced homes and businesses to crank up their air conditioners to escape a brutal heat wave, thus stressing regional power grids, reports news agency Reuters.Electricity use on the biggest US grid, which serves nearly a fifth of Americans from Washington DC to Illinois, is expected to climb to a 12-year high as intense heat spurs air conditioning needs, Bloomberg reported. A heat wave will start baking the mid-Atlantic on Saturday with temperatures climbing to 100 F in Washington on Monday, 13 degrees above average, according to AccuWeather.com.According to the weather office, high temperatures are expected in New York, the biggest city in the US. NYC is expected to tie the 137-year-old record of 96 Fahrenheit (35.6 Celsius) on Monday before breaking that record on Tuesday with the mercury expected to reach 98 F.After that, however, the weather in New York is expected to cool rapidly from 94 F on Wednesday to 85 F on Thursday and 78 F on Friday. That compares with current record highs of 96 F for both Monday and Tuesday set in 1888 and a normal high in New York of 82 F at this time of year.Next-day electricity prices at the PJM West hub in Pennsylvania surged more than 430% to approximately $211 per megawatt-hour (MWh), marking their highest level since January. In New England, prices also saw a surge—climbing over 180% to about $161 per MWh, the highest since February. For comparison, the average power prices so far in 2025 have been $55 per MWh in PJM and $81 per MWh in New England.An alert has been issued by PJM Interconnection , which operates the power grid in all or parts of 13 states from New Jersey to Illinois, asking power generators to be ready to operate at maximum capacity if needed during the extreme hot weather. PJM said it expected power demand to reach 160,000 megawatts (MW) on Monday, 158,000 MW on Tuesday and 155,000 MW on Wednesday.One megawatt typically powers around 800 homes under normal conditions, but that number drops significantly on hot summer days when air conditioners in homes and businesses drive up electricity demand. According to the grid operator PJM, the alert is directed at transmission and generation owners so they can adjust their maintenance schedules. It also serves as a warning to neighboring regions that power exports from PJM might need to be reduced.Power prices for Monday soared to average at $200 a megawatt-hour in exchange-traded contracts, a roughly five-fold increase from Friday's day—ahead price, said Gary Cunningham, director of market research at Tradition Energy.'The swath of heat stretching from the central plains to the big apple will bring near record heat to many metropolitan areas, but is happening early enough in the year that power demands should fall shy of records in most areas,' he told Bloomberg.Tens of millions across the Midwest and East in the US endured intense sun and soaring temperatures as an unusually early June heatwave continued to grip parts of the country. Much of the northeastern United States, along with areas of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi, remained under heat advisories on Sunday.In Pittsburgh, the heat index was forecast to exceed 105°F, while Columbus, Ohio recorded a temperature of 77°F. In response to the dangerous conditions, Philadelphia's public health department declared a heat emergency beginning at noon on Sunday and lasting through Wednesday evening.Sunday marked the second consecutive day of extreme heat for the Midwest and East Coast. Forecasters warn that the sweltering conditions will persist into the week, with the most intense temperatures concentrated in the eastern states.New York City is expected to reach highs of 95°F on both Monday and Tuesday. Boston could see temperatures hit 100°F on Tuesday, while Washington, D.C. is projected to reach 100°F on both Tuesday and Wednesday.(With inputs from Reuters)
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