US PJM power demand hits preliminary winter record during winter freeze

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Power grid operator PJM Interconnection on Wednesday said it hit a preliminary record for winter demand with a peak load of 145,000 megawatts (MW), while also exporting 8,000 MW, driven by extreme cold nationwide.

This surpasses the previous record of 143,700 MW set in February 2015, pending data verification, said PJM, which serves nearly 65 million people in all or parts of 13 states from Illinois to New Jersey.

High demand, nearly 140,000 MW, is expected on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, Mike Bryson, PJM's senior vice president of operations, said in a statement.

Soaring prices and record gas demand this week helped boost spot power prices to a record high of $275 per megawatt hour at the PJM West Hub E-PJWHDAP-IDX in western Pennsylvania.

(Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru)

((Noel.John@thomsonreuters.com;))