The state’s two largest utilities set records on back-to-back days this week as soaring temperatures set records in the Valley.

Arizona Public Service Co. said it set a peak demand of 8,631 megawatts being used between 5 and 6 p.m. on Aug. 7.

That bested the record set a day earlier at 8,534 megawatts. Which bested the previous record set July 9 at 8,527 megawatts. A megwatt is enough to serve about 160 homes.

While it’s the third record this year, it also is the third consecutive year APS customers have set a record, officials said.

Salt River Project also saw a record peak of 8,752 megawatts between 3 and 4 p.m. on Aug. 7. That bested the previous record, set just a day earlier on Aug. 6 with  8,429 megawatts.

Like APS, SRP's previous record came July 9 at 8,361 megawatts.

The Valley’s temperature hit 118 degrees on Thursday, a new record for the day and a new high temperature record for any day in August. Other records around the state were set in Prescott at 99 degrees and tied in Yuma at 114 degrees.

APS officials say in addition to the heat causing more power draw, the state also has more people and more businesses that are tapping into the grid. The utility spends about $2 billion a year in upgrades, operations and maintenance, officials said.

“We have set three peak energy demand records so far this summer, which emphasizes the importance of maintaining reliability through the extreme weather and growing energy use we are experiencing in Arizona,” said Ted Geisler, APS President and CEO, in a release. “A balanced energy mix with nuclear, natural gas, coal, solar, wind and energy storage all play a role in delivering reliable, affordable service to our customers.”

The staff on the marketing and trading desk — where officials buy power — was calm, cool and collected, said Tayla Beckham,  APS manager of resource operations. 

She said everything ran "smooth" on Wednesday and Thursday. 

"We plan adequately for the day," Beckham said. 

APS has access to about 10,100 megawatts from its system if everything "goes" to plan, Beckham said. 

"We can always purchase more if we needed to," Beckham said.

By comparison, peak demand is about 4,000 to 5,000 megawatts on a typical winter day in Arizona, according to Yessica Del Rincon, an APS spokeswoman.

SRP officials also attributed the records to the heat and increased overall demand.

“Meeting these increasingly high loads is a result of careful planning by teams across SRP to ensure we have enough generating resources available,” said Pam Syrjala, SRP senior director of supply and trading. “SRP’s diverse mix of energy, including solar, natural gas, batteries, wind and hydro power were all utilized to help us maintain reliability.”