Utility companies have reported record energy consumption during the cold snap we’re still in the midst of.

Dominion Virginia Power reported record electricity usage during last Friday’s record low temperatures. A peak of 21,651 megawatts was supplied at 8 a.m., up by more than 1,500 megawatts over the previous peak, in the summer of 2011.
Dominion customers also used a record amount of electricity, 450,432 megawatts, during the 24 hours Friday.

“The company’s generation, transmission and distribution systems met the severe weather challenge,” Dominion spokeswoman Bonita Harris stated.

Columbia Gas of Virginia also reported new records last week. A new single-day record was set on the Thursday, with 499,637 dekatherms. The following day was the second all-time delivery day, with 481,434 dekatherms, while Sunday, Feb. 15 came in third with 471,617 dekatherms.

Dekatherms measure heat value; one equals about 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas.

According to Carl Levander, the company’s president, dedicated employees, a “proven winter operations planning process” and infrastructure investments in recent years enabled Columbia to “meet its customers’ needs, safely and reliably.”

“The sustained cold temperatures across Virginia posed a severe test to the natural gas delivery infrastructure used by Columbia Gas in Virginia to serve our residential, commercial and industrial customers,” Levander stated.