Thursday, January 4, 1990 -- COLD PRODUCES RECORD PEAK DEMAND AT IP -- Illinois Power customers used electricity at unprecedented winter levels during December, breaking the previous winter peak demands record five times in an eight-day period.

Sub-zero temperatures also drove up customer demand for natural gas to heat homes and power industry. Gas usage for December rose sharply compared to the same period in 1988, including the third highest daily usage figure ever recorded by Illinois Power customers - 799 million cubic feet on December 21.

Customers used 13 billion cubic feet of gas thr...