The recent cold snap led to record power usage by both natural gas and electricity customers on Friday when temperatures plunged well below zero in the Flathead Valley.

Flathead Electric Cooperative had its highest-ever power consumption for a single day on Friday, spokeswoman Wendy Ostrom-Price said. 

Flathead Electric members used 6,783 megawatts of power from midnight Thursday to midnight Friday. The power load peaked between 7 and 8 a.m. Friday when area residents were getting ready for the day and used 315.7 megawatts, she said.

On any given normal winter day, Flathead Electric customers use around 280 megawatts during the peak hour of the day.

Flathead Electric’s previous 24-hour usage record was set Dec. 16, 2008, when 6,774 megawatts were used.

“Obviously more energy use is reflected in a higher bill,” Ostrom-Price said. “Sometimes people are surprised by how much more energy they use during the winter months, and during a cold streak in particular, and are surprised by their bill.”

Flathead Electric members who have been with the co-op since 2004 will get some relief this month, though. The cooperative’s capital credits from 2004 are being retired and members should get checks in the mail sometime this month.

NorthWestern Energy spokesman Butch Larcombe said that the utility’s Montana customers used 302 million cubic feet of natural gas on Friday, breaking the old mark of 298 million cubic feet set in 1972.

Natural gas use declined to 286 million cubic feet on Saturday. Larcombe said a reduction in business use led to the decreased demand, even though Saturday was the coldest day of the recent frigid weather.

Demand for electricity from NorthWestern Energy also was high, but did not break a record. Larcombe said the peak load on Sunday reached 1,728 megawatts. The record of 1,805 megawatts was set in December 2008.

Flathead Electric’s power use also didn’t set a record on Saturday when it was colder, largely because of less commercial and industrial power usage.