Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. customers set a summer record for electricity use Wednesday (8/2) and the utility expects high demand for power to continue for the next two days.

"We are making full use of every available generating unit we have to meet the record demand for electricity. Barring unforeseen power plant shutdowns, we expect to have enough electricity to continue meeting customer demand," said Barry Trayers, PP&L's manager of Bulk Power Operations.

PP&L customers broke the existing summer use record early Wednesday afternoon. The company expects demand to continue to climb throughout the afternoon, he added.

Unofficial demand figures reflecting the new summer record will be available Wednesday evening.

The previous record for summer electricity use on the PP&L system is 5,873,000 kilowatt-hours, set July 27. PP&L's all-time use record is 6,508,000 kilowatt-hours, set Feb. 6, 1995.

Also on Wednesday, the five-state power pool which includes PP&L appears to have set an all-time customer use record, topping the 47,240,000 kilowatt-hours set last Thursday (7/27).

Demand on the PJM Interconnection, which coordinates power distribution for more than 22 million people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C., unofficially exceeded 48 million kilowatt-hours and was climbing.

The pool has an adequate power supply to meet the record demand, but is relying heavily on purchases of electricity from other parts of the country, Trayers said. At this time, customers are not being asked to take actions to conserve electricity.

"We expect electricity use levels as high, if not higher, tomorrow and Friday as the heat wave continues," Trayers said. "And we expect to continue meeting the demand."

Only two PP&L units were forced out of service for repairs on Wednesday, both at the Martins Creek power plant in Northampton County. Those units are expected back in service tomorrow.

PP&L serves 1.2 million customers in 29 counties of eastern and central Pennsylvania.