The first arctic blast of the season resulted in record electric use by customers of PPL Electric Utilities on Monday evening (12/20).

Shortly after 6 p.m., customers used 7,603 megawatts of electricity, topping the previous record of 7,549 megawatts set Jan. 16, 2004.

"Our significant investment in maintaining our system and providing reliable service really pays off for our customers when they need electricity to cope with the effects of the cold," said David E. Schleicher, director-Engineering & Design for PPL Electric Utilities.

He added that the PJM Interconnection reports that an adequate supply of electricity is available from the region's power plants to meet customer demand. PJM coordinates and directs the electricity market in 12 states, including Pennsylvania.

PPL Electric Utilities delivers power to 1.3 million customers in 29 counties of eastern and central Pennsylvania.

PPL Electric Utilities Corporation is a subsidiary of PPL Corporation. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) controls more than 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to nearly 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America. More information is available at www.pplweb.com.