An arctic blast across much of the eastern half of the country last week led to record winter power demand across the PJM Interconnection, reports Lehigh Valley Live. The grid operator estimates that demand reached 143,800 MW at 8 pm Friday, February 20, a level that is common on hot summer days but exceeded the previous record of 142,573 writes TribLive. With about 161,000 MW available throughout the region, PJM spokeswoman Paula DuPont-Kidd says there was sufficient power to meet demand. She also noted that it is rare to see such a wide geographical area covered by a single mass of cold air, but that the mass covered nearly all 14 states/territories in PJM.
