(WFRV) – Temperatures are predicted to soar into the high 90s on Wednesday across much of Wisconsin, making it prime conditions for power outages.

“With weather forecasts that are predicted here for the rest of this week, there’s something that we’re closely monitoring and focusing on,” Wisconsin Public Services spokesperson Matt Cullen said.

Energy providers explain that it will take a group effort among customers to reduce their usage Tuesday through Thursday, especially during the peak hours of 3 to 7 p.m.

“It’s important that we keep costs down for our customers and keep the grid reliable for our customers,” Kaukauna Utilities general manager Michael Avanzi said. “It’s important that we conserve energy on the hottest days.”

The appliance that uses the most energy is the air conditioner.

“We want to make sure we’re not stressing the grid,” Kaukauna Utilities energy services manager Steve Engebos said. “On a hot day, if everybody uses air conditioning or appliances, there could be an overuse where the system struggles to keep up.”

Other appliances that consume a lot of energy are the ones for cooking and laundry. Saving those tasks for outside the 3 to 7 p.m. window can help reduce energy usage, be more environmentally friendly and keep the costs of your bills down.

Raising the temperature in your home while you are gone and keeping the windows covered are ways to prevent the air conditioning from overworking. Fans are also more energy efficient to use than lowering the temperature with air conditioning.

“We could see an overall 25-30% increase in our overall system demand,” Avanzi said of Kaukauna Utilities. “It would be a concern because it’s really hot, but we have a history of providing extremely reliable power, even on these hot days.”

Wisconsin Public Services also knows of the probable jump in energy usage but feels prepared.

“Anytime there is an outage or something that’s affecting the services our customers receive, our focus is on making sure that we can respond as quickly and safely as we can to address that situation,” Cullen said. “We have a variety of generation sources we can call upon to provide energy and electricity to our customers.”

Kaukauna Utilities uses an auxiliary plant, called a peaker plant, across the street to help with spikes in extreme conditions.

“That’s a natural gas plant that starts up, and what that’ll do is produce an additional 60 megawatts of energy,” Engebos said. “That would help out for the increased load that we see on a hot day.”

Outside contractors will monitor energy usage data throughout the day and will travel on-site to turn the peaker plant on if necessary.

“As soon as they see a certain number hit, and they say, ‘okay, we’re at a mark where we need more energy,’ and they would be dispatched to start that unit up,” Engebos said. “So we do plan on starting it, and it will be more than ready.”