KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Authority said multiple records were set Friday and Saturday during a winter weather storm that swept through much of Tennessee.
They said that two records were set on Friday — the highest-ever 24-hour electricity demand supplied in TVA history and the highest winter peak power demand. They said they had to supply around 740 gigawatt-hours on Friday, and hit their highest winter peak power demand at 7 p.m. central time when electricity use rose to 33,425 megawatts.
On Saturday, TVA said they also had their highest-ever highest weekend peak power demand at 31,756 megawatts set at 1 a.m. central time on Saturday.
"Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we managed record-setting power demand over the weekend," TVA said on social media. "We are grateful for our 153 local power company partners, large customers and communities as we worked together to ensure a stable power grid for us all."
The TVA previously said that usually in December, demand reaches around 24,000 megawatts. On Dec. 23, TVA said power demands got so high that they activated prepared plans to temporarily reduce power loads, working directly with local power companies.
Those companies told customers there would be temporary, rolling blackouts in their regions. The companies included the Knoxville Utilities Board, the Lenoir City Utilities Board, the Sevierville Electric System and the Appalachian Electric Cooperative.
It was the same day that an arctic blast brought dangerously low temperatures to the region, plummeting them to single digits. Wind chills in the area brought some temperatures below zero.