Electricity consumption in the country last year dropped by four percent to 101.76 million megawatt hours (MWh) from 2019’s 106.04 million MWh, data from the Department of Energy (DOE) showed.
Consumption from commercial and industrial sectors declined while that from residential increased as people spent more time at home.
The commercial segment which includes real estate, restaurants, retail malls, hotels, schools and transportation, recorded the biggest consumption decline last year of 19 percent to 20.73 million MWh, from 2019’s 25.46 million MWh.
Meanwhile, the industrial segment with customers coming from manufacturers of semiconductors, food and beverage, steel, cement, plastic products as well as those involved in the production and distribution of electricity, gas and water, booked a 9 percent decrease in consumption to 25.57 million MWh from 28.20 million MWh.
Consumption by the residential segment jumped by 12 percent to 34.3 million MWh from 30.55 million MWh.
Other consumers recorded an eight percent decrease at 2.66 million MWh from 2.9 million MWh.
Own-use power of plants and system loss, the two other segments that contribute to the total electricity consumption also logged lower numbers. Own-use power went down by almost two percent to 8.77 million MWh from 8.93 million MWh as system loss dropped by 2.5 percent to 9.74 million MWh from 9.99 million MWh.
For the period, Luzon consumed the most at 73.5 million MWh from 77.69 million MWh, down by five percent while Visayas followed with 14.4 million MWh from 14.55 million MWh, a drop of one percent.
Mindanao was the only region that experienced a growth in power consumption, by 0.3 percent to 13.85 million MWh from 13.8 million MWh.
The DOE said the Philippines’ total peak demand last year declined by 1.9 percent to 15,282 megawatts (MW) from 15,581 MW. Luzon’s peak demand was at 11,103 MW, lower by 2.1 percent from 11,344 MW while Visayas’ peak demand was weaker at one percent to 2,201 MW from 2,224 MW as Mindanao peak demand decreased by 1.8 percent to 1,978 MW from 2,013 MW.
Total gross power generation in the country last year including plants that are grid connected, embedded and off grid are also lower by four percent to 101.76 million MWh from 106.04 million MWh.
