(AP) -- South Carolina's state-owned electric utility says it's set a peak usage record during the blast of cold weather that's chilled the Southeast.

Santee Cooper said it set a peak record of 5,743 megawatts between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

That tops the previous record, set in January of this year, by more than 1,000 megawatts. Santee Cooper says that timeframe is typically a busy usage time, and the cold temperatures meant even more of a draw on the system.

South Carolina has seen temperatures dipping into the teens and low 20s during a recent blast of winter weather boosted by a Canadian high pressure system.

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