As crippling heat continues to bake the region, about 20,000 PSE&G customers had lost electric power as of 8:30 p.m. Friday, the company announced.

New Jersey’s largest utility company, serving 2.2 million customers in its territory from Bergen County to Gloucester County, vowed to keep tabs on the weather and its effects on power delivery.

“Utility crews are at the ready throughout the weekend to respond to service interruptions, should they occur,” a company release said.

A company release stated that about 5,000 customers in PSE&G’s southern territory had lost power because of a storm that came through part of the area Friday afternoon.

The release said about 15,000 outages were heat-related and included 8,000 customers in parts of Bloomfield, Glen Ridge and Montclair. Power was expected to be restored by 9 p.m.

An earlier statement released around noon Friday said PJM, the regional power grid operator, had informed PSE&G “that power supplies are expected to be adequate to meet the increased demand.”

Demand reached an unofficial 10,883 megawatts, approaching the all-time record of 11,108 megawatts set Aug. 2, 2006.

PSE&G is reminding customers to use electricity wisely and to help both the environment and their own finances by conserving when possible. The company offers the following tips:

n Turn off everything not in use, including TVs and computers.

n If health conditions permit, raise the temperature on the air conditioner to 78 degrees. That can save three to five percent on air conditioning costs for each degree the thermostat is raised.

n Use fans to circulate air. Portable and ceiling fans use one tenth the electricity used by an air conditioner and can make 78 degrees feel cooler than it is.

n Help the air conditioner to cool more efficiently by closing blinds, shades and draperies that face the sun.

n Close doors leading to uncooled parts of the home. For homes with central air conditioning, close off vents in unused rooms.

n Make sure furniture and other objects are not blocking ducts or fans.

n Whenever possible, cook and use heat-generating appliances in the early morning and late evening.

Demonstrations on saving energy in the home can be found on PSE&G’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/psegvideo. Customers can also follow the company on its Twitter page, http://twitter.com/psegoutageinfo.