UPDATE 1-US PJM power demand hits preliminary winter record during winter freeze

Adds details on Tennessee Valley Authority hitting record peak demand

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.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said power demand in its seven-state region soared to an all-time peak of 35,319 MW on Wednesday, topping the previous peak of 34,577 MW set on Jan. 17, 2024.

The peak occurred Wednesday morning as temperatures across the system dipped to 11 degrees Fahrenheit (-11.7 Celsius).

To ease strain on the grid, TVA on Tuesday asked customers to conserve power Wednesday morning.

TVA supplies electricity to 10 million people across seven southeastern states.

(Reporting by Noel John and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

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