SA's electricity consumption decreases by 1.2%

South Africa's electricity consumption in January decreased by about 1.2% compared to last January, reported Statistics SA on Thursday.

According to Stats SA, the estimated volume of electricity consumed from November 2007 to the end of January increased by 1%.

Power consumption, following seasonal adjustment for January 2008, decreased by 1.5% while last December it decreased by 0.6%.

Meanwhile, the production of electricity in January 2008 increased by 1.5% compared to last January when Eskom reported an increase of 1.4%.

There was a decrease in electricity distributed to provinces. For January 2008, Eskom's electricity distribution to provinces decreased by 1.5% compared to last January. This included a 1.4% decrease in the Western Cape and a 6% decrease in Limpopo.

Provinces such as the North West reported an increase at 1.8% while Gauteng reported a 1.1% increase. – Sapa