03/03/2009 15h04
Consumption of electric energy grows in February
Valor Econômico - 03/03/2009
The consumption of electric energy in the interconnected system increased 4.9% from January to February giving signs of resumption of the industrial production. There was also positive variation in relation to February of last year, 0.7%, inverting the negative result of the two previous years. For the Electric System National Operator (ONS) which released the indexes, that "can signal a reaction to the economic crisis which began in the last quarter of 2008. The South and Southeast/Mid-West subsystems led the recovery of the energy load over January, with increases of 6.3% and 6.4%, respectively. In both regions, the occurrence of temperatures higher than those registered in the same period of 2008 helped the increase of 0.3% (South) and 1.4% (Southeast/Mid-West) in the annual comparison. Although some industrial sectors continue granting blanket vacations and making maintenance stoppages in order to adjust themselves to the demand, the ONS considers, with grounds on the figures seen, that "these sectors are more optimistic in relation to the resumption of the production, even though still at a slower pace than they were at. "Added to that is the replacement of the levels of the stocks, specially those related to the car industry stimulated by the temporary reduction of the tax rate over the price paid by the final consumer", says the operator's bulletin, which also mentions, without specifying, sectors aimed to the domestic market which are less affected by the worsening of the crisis. In the other regions, the results point to opposite directions. In the Northeastern subsystem, the use of electricity grew 0.6% compared to January, but it still presents negative variation of 0.7% compared to February 2008. In the Northern subsystem there was a 2.1% fall over January and 1.2% in relation to the same period of the previous year. Such reduction is explained, according to the ONS, by the strong presence of industries of sectors that use a lot of energy in the region, such as aluminum producers.
