Frigid weather Monday (1/17) resulted in PP&L, Inc.'s customers setting an electricity-use record by early evening.

Earlier in the day, Bill Whitehead, PP&L manager of transmission and distribution operations, predicted that excessive wind chills could push demand past the old record set on January 14, 1999.

Today's peak, he added, is unusual.

"Record demands generally don't occur on the first day of a cold spell," he noted. "It's more likely the system will peak in 2-3 days as cold weather patterns continue."

He pointed out that this year is also different because the cold weather is not accompanied by the storms that can complicate operations by causing outages.

Preliminary figures show PP&L, Inc. delivered 6,928,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Monday (1/17). That exceeds the previous record high of 6,688,000 kilowatt-hours set between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Jan. 14, 1999,during an ice storm that interrupted power to about 15,000 of the utility's customers.

While the current cold snap isn't expected to produce any service interruptions, PP&L, Inc. reminds customers that they can report power outages to its toll-free customer service number, 1-800-342-5775 (1-800 DIAL PPL).

PP&L, Inc. asks any customer whose power goes out to call right away. Customer calls help the utility pinpoint the source of the problem, enabling crews to restore service more quickly. The greatest threats to power lines right now are high winds, Whitehead said.

"Strong, gusty winds add to the potential for problems. In these weather conditions, there is a potential for wires to be knocked down to the ground," he says.

Wires on the ground can be extremely dangerous. Anyone who encounters a fallen wire should keep a safe distance away and report it immediately by calling PP&L, Inc.'s toll-free number or the local emergency number (911).

PP&L, Inc. is a subsidiary of Allentown, Pa.-based PP&L Resources, Inc. (www.pplresources.com). PP&L Resources is a Fortune 500 company that delivers electricity and natural gas to more than 1.3 million customers in Pennsylvania; sells wholesale and retail energy in 35 U.S. states and Canada; generates electricity at power plants in Pennsylvania, Maine and Montana; delivers electricity to 1.4 million customers in southwest Britain; and delivers electricity to more than 800,000 customers in Chile, Bolivia and El Salvador.