This week’s freezing temperatures pushed Puget Sound Energy customers’ natural gas usage to a new high Monday (Dec. 7), surpassing the record set last December. With temperatures forecasted to remain colder than usual for several more days, PSE is encouraging customers to use energy wisely, particularly during peak energy periods, to manage their winter heating bills.

PSE’s natural gas usage reached 791,096 million British thermal units (MMBTu) for the 24-hour period ending Tuesday at 7 a.m., surpassing the 785,043 MMBTu record set Dec. 20, 2008. Monday’s peak electricity usage of 4,750 megawatts (MW), which occurred at 7 p.m. Monday, fell just shy of the record peak of 4,906 MW set Dec. 15, 2008.