Toronto sizzles under extreme heat alert

Kayleigh McKellar and her best friend Rafal Kucio bask in the sun backdropped by the city skyline as temperatures soar on in Toronto on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. (Michelle Siu / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Toronto remains under an extreme heat alert as scorching temperatures continued Wednesday, putting plenty of pressure on the city’s power grid as residents attempt to stay cool.

The temperature in Toronto reached 34 C, but factoring in the humidity it felt more like 45 C, according to Environment Canada.

The City of Toronto extended its extreme heat alert, which keeps cooling centres open and extends the hours at public pools.

The sweltering temperatures also impacted the afternoon commute, with GO Transit enforcing heat speed restrictions on some rail corridors.

On Wednesday, Ontario’s Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli visited the Hydro One Manby Transformation Station, which is one of two major hydro corridors that feed power to Toronto.

Chiarelli thanked the hydro staff for their work repairing the station after it was left flooded following last week’s record-breaking rainfall. At one point during the storm, 300,000 homes and businesses were left in the dark.

Hydro One said the heat hasn’t had an impact on the hydro system this week, but officials are reminding customers to conserve power whenever possible.

“We’re at a fairly high demand across the province now,” Hydro One CEO Peter Gregg said during a news conference Wednesday, noting that the province is expected to use 25,000 megawatts of energy today, which is 2,000 megawatts below the record peak.

Toronto Hydro reported that last year’s record for peak power demand was broken Wednesday afternoon.

The utility tweeted that at approximately 4:50 p.m., Toronto was using 4,855 megawatts of energy, and the number was still climbing.

The all-time record peak in the city was 5,018 megawatts, which was set in July 2006, according to Toronto Hydro.

Ontarians are being asked to conserve energy and keep homes cool by avoiding the use of heat-producing appliances like ovens and keeping curtains and blinds shut.

It’s expected that Torontonians will have to contend with the heat and humidity until the weekend with daytime highs remaining in the low 30s C.

Saturday’s high is expected to reach 28 C and Sunday’s high is forecasted at 24 C.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Paul Bliss