Monday night was record-breaking for BC Hydro, as they saw the highest peak hourly demand in February.

Hydro use soared to just around 10,050 megawatts – the second time they broke the February record in as many nights.

On Sunday night, the peak hourly demand was 9,848 megawatts.

Spokesperson Jen Walker-Larson says the province sees the highest hydro use in the winter.

“A lot of people have electric heat, typically heating costs rise about 140 per cent in the winter,” she said. “It creates this increased electricity demand.”

“For the large part, people put more lights on and spend more time at home. Darker days mean more lighting as well.”

The previous February record was 9,795 megawatts set on February 8, 2017.

“Increase in electricity use is about 13 per cent higher than average since this cold snap began on February 3,” Walker-Larson added. “Demand is the highest between 4 and 8 PM on weekday evenings.

Monday night’s record was just short of the all-time record of 10,194 megawatts.