State College businesses and residents were urged yesterday to curtail their power usage during a statewide disaster -- a result of record-breaking low temperatures.

The area experienced a temperature of 18 degrees below zero yesterday morning, the lowest this century and the second lowest ever. At least four deaths across the state have been blamed on the frigid weather.

West Penn Power Co., the electricity supplier for Centre County and the University, put out a general plea yesterday for the public to limit nonessential electric usage.

"We have a larger demand than we do supply," said J.P. Tambourine, State College area supervisor of customer services and accounting at West Penn Power Co.

The cold weather and two damaged generating units caused the electricity demand to exceed the available supply. West Penn Power Co. was forced to cut power from certain sections of the University at various intervals throughout the day.

Tambourine said electricity in the State College area was not affected yesterday, but added that the company would reconsider possible power cutbacks early this morning.

Local businesses and government offices were asked to reduce their energy consumption to ensure that hospitals and nursing homes had sufficient power.

"As long as everyone cuts back, hopefully we won't have to do anything of an emergency nature," said Donna Williams, Centre Community Hospital's director of public relations.

The hospital continued operating under normal conditions but monitored its electricity use. Emergency power is available to the hospital in case of a power outage.

A number of local businesses limited power usage yesterday to aid in the conservation effort.

Ray Agostinelli, general manager of McLanahan Self Service Store, 414 E. College Ave., said he heard about the electrical shortage on the radio and shut off more than half the store's power.

Betsy Corman, manager of Tinderbox Gifts, 137 E. Beaver Ave., braved the cold and worked without lights or heat yesterday in an attempt to conserve power. All appliances, except for a refrigerator used to store perishable candies, were turned off.

Energy conservation became a statewide effort yesterday when Lt. Gov. Mark Singel announced that the state had been declared a disaster emergency. Singel called on all Pennsylvanians to conserve energy during the adverse weather.

"Pennsylvanians should immediately turn their thermostats back to 60 degrees with the exception of older people and the very ill," Singel said in a news release. "Everyone should turn off unnecessary electric lights and equipment such as televisions, dishwashers and clothes washers and dryers."

Nancy Folkenroth of 205 E. Beaver Ave. had all her lights and unnecessary appliances turned off yesterday. Folkenroth agreed with most of Singel's recommendations -- with one exception.

"I am not turning my thermostat back to 60 degrees," Folkenroth said. "That seems pretty drastic."

Twelve Mid-State Bank and Trust Company locations in Blair County experienced temporary power outages yesterday and were forced to close at 3 p.m. The Pennsylvania Electric Company shut down grids across the county for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.

Dean McKnight, the bank's senior vice president, said bank employees used electricity sparingly by turning off lights and turning down thermostats to 55 degrees.

"We've really tried to conserve power the best we can," McKnight said.

Collegian Staff Writer Courtney Cairns contributed to this report.