( CNN ) -- The heat wave that 's bearing down on more than 150 million Americans in the Midwestern and mid-Atlantic United States is also straining the nation 's power grid . The record temperatures and heat indexes mean more and more people are cranking on the air conditioners . Many regional electricity providers are reporting record usage this week . Read the latest on the heat wave . In May , the power grid serving most of the mid-Atlantic region predicted a peak demand of just under 149,000 megawatts ( one megawatt can run 1,000 air-conditioning units at full power ) . On Wednesday , that grid produced more than 150,000 megawatts . CNN 's Randi Kaye talked with Michael Kormos , an operations executive with Philadelphia-based PJM Interconnection , which serves 58 million customers in 13 states and the District of Columbia , who said his utility is well-prepared for the increase in demand . CNN : How is your company doing in terms of providing power to its customers ? Do you have enough ? Kormos : Yes , at this point , we believe that there is adequate capacity to serve all of the customer needs on the grid at this point . CNN : Give us an idea of the situation : Are you at peak capacity , or do you have room here to play with ? Kormos : While we are at peak , this is the kind of week that we literally plan years for in advance to make sure the infrastructure 's in place . We train all year long to be prepared and everything is running well , and the grid is holding up , and we expect not to have any brownouts in the foreseeable future . CNN : What type of training do you do to avoid a brownout ? Kormos : A lot of the training is being able to react to any situation that could happen on the grid , should a generator fail or a transmission line or transformer fail , being able to react to that , to redirect the power to ensure that the remaining of the grid stays up . CNN : What if you do need more power ? Is there anything you can do ? Kormos : We do have emergency procedures , as just mentioned . We can use what 's called a brownout , where we lower the voltage that does decrease the power use . We also have the ability to ask customers , to either voluntarily or through contractual obligations , get off the grid at that point . CNN : I 've read that as a heat wave persists , it takes more and more power to maintain cool temperatures . Is that true ? Kormos : Yes , that 's true . You normally end up with residual heat buildup in the buildings , and therefore the air conditioners are working harder to maintain the same temperature because of that residual heat .
The U.S. heat wave is affecting 150 million Americans . A new study shows that the number of people who are dying from heatstroke in America has increased by more than 50 percent since 2000. The demand has surpassed 150,000 megawatts .