— Donnie Hardin Gaffney BPW General Manager Customers cranking up their air conditions to keep cool have helped the Gaffney Board of Public Works set a peak usage record.

The utility set a record for electrical usage on Tuesday, July 27, with peak demand hitting 51.2 megawatts at 4 p.m., according to BPW official Chuck Bolin.

The old record of 50 megawatts was set in 2006.

Due to record temperatures and humidity, the utility has activated its peak generation 25 times so far this summer — that’s more than double the 10 to 12 times of an average summer.

Bolin also pointed out that some of the peak demands have occurred over the weekends, an unusual event since industries typically shut down during that time.

Despite the record usage, BPW General Manager Donnie Hardin said there will be no calls for customers to curb electrical usage.

“We have plenty of power,” Hardin said. “We have a very reliable, stateof the-art system with the latest technology to deliver electricity to our customers.”

There are ways for customers to save money on their bills, though.

— Turn down the temperature of your refrigerator. Aim for somewhere between 38-42 degrees in the fridge, and 0-5 degrees in the freezer.

— Wash only full loads in your dishwasher.

— Don’t use hot water when doing the laundry.

— Lower the temperature of your water thermostat to 120-130 degrees (any lower than that might backfire on you, since you might end up running out of hot water).

— Clean your air filters regularly. Air conditioners have to work a lot harder to circulate air through dirty filters.