By Michael E. Ruane and Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 2, 2006; A01
Lights were dimmed in Congress, extra power plants stayed online and warnings about air quality were issued yesterday as the Washington region sizzled through a withering heat wave that forecasters expected to get even worse today.
With temperatures near 100 and heat indexes topping 115 in some areas, two of the region's utilities, Pepco and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., reported record power demand. They urged customers to conserve energy.
National Weather Service officials said yesterday's high at Reagan National Airport was 98 at 3:36 p.m., just short of the record of 99 for the date set in 2002.
Today's high is expected to top the record of 100, set in 2002, and another record could fall tomorrow, said Weather Service meteorologist David Manning.
A record was broken at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport when the mercury hit 100 at 3:03 p.m. The old record was 99, set in 1933. The temperature at Dulles International Airport reached 97 at 3:32, shy of the record of 100 set in 1980.
Joe Bartosik, a meteorologist with WeatherBug, a private weather agency based in Germantown, recorded heat indexes of well over 100 across the area. He said an index of 118, combining heat and humidity, was recorded in Williamsburg at 2 p.m. "Brutal," he said.
Manning said: "We have a big, very warm subtropical ridge of high pressure over us. We've seen extreme temperatures as it tracked from west to east across the country."
Most of the eastern United States is affected. In Georgia, a high school football player died of heatstroke yesterday during a practice.
Even after sundown, many Washingtonians experienced difficulties in keeping cool, as temperatures remained stubbornly close to 90. The pool at the Georgetown recreation center closed early after an equipment failure raised chlorine levels. Five people who reported burning eyes were taken to a hospital for observation.
At the 9:30 club in Northwest Washington, the local farewell performance of the indie rock band Sleater-Kinney was canceled because repairs being made on a nearby transformer could have jeopardized the club's lights. A Pepco spokeswoman said it was possible that the heat necessitated the repairs.
Late last night, power was out for more than 2,000 customers in the District and Montgomery County, according to Pepco.
Meanwhile, Pepco Energy Services, a utility subsidiary, kept its two extra "peaking" plants on the Anacostia River online to augment the power supply. The plants, on Benning Road NE and at Buzzard Point, are used at times of high demand and were activated Monday, a spokesman said.
Pepco's record power demand of 6,725 megawatts, set last summer, was broken about 2 p.m. yesterday, spokesman Bob Dobkin said.
Dominion Virginia Power said its demand was also high but would not know until today whether the record of 18,897 megawatts, also set last year, had been surpassed.
A BGE spokeswoman said the utility, which serves Howard and Anne Arundel counties and parts of Prince George's County, made use of its energy saver program for a second day. It allows the company to periodically cycle off the air conditioners of 225,000 volunteer customers.
Still, BGE's demand record of 7,045 megawatts, also set last summer, was broken about 4 p.m., the spokeswoman said.
All the local utilities said they were having little trouble meeting demand, however.
"So far, fine," Pepco's Dobkin said. "No problems to speak of."
The Washington area is part of a power network, the PJM Interconnect, that pools resources through the mid-Atlantic region. Experts say enough power generation is available that no brownouts or rolling blackouts should occur.
"This summer, the supply condition remains healthy," said Jone-Lin Wang, an official at Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
Elsewhere yesterday, things were decidedly unhealthy.
In Montgomery County, juveniles at the main detention facility for minors sweltered because of a power outage that started Monday.
Ed Hopkins, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, which controls the Alfred D. Noyes Children's Center in Rockville, said security was not at risk.
Today has been designated a Code Red, or unhealthful, air quality day by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Fares will be free on designated Metrobus routes in suburban Maryland and Virginia and on Montgomery County's Ride On system.
Virginia Railway Express discovered a kink in a rail on the Fredericksburg Line between Alexandria and Franconia/Springfield, causing delays. Heat restrictions on MARC's lines reduced speeds.
U.S. Capitol employees cut energy use by turning off unneeded equipment, and lighting was dimmed. Some employees were amused, noting that the building is usually kept cool enough for sweaters and suit coats.
Staff writers Charles Babington, Susan DeFord, Daniel deVise, Rosalind S. Helderman, Allison Klein, Allan Lengel, Ernesto Londoño, Ann E. Marimow, Jamie Stockwell, Sandhya Somashekhar, Lena H. Sun, Martin Weil and Dan Zak contributed to this report.
