Nicole Rego
Johannesburg - Power utility Eskom's drive to encourage South Africans to save electricity is bearing fruit, with the latest data showing a decline in energy consumption.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said estimated consumption for electricity in May 2008 decreased by 2.5% when compared with May 2007. The data is contained in its most latest report on electricity generated and available for distribution.
The decline translates into a reduction of approximately 520 Gigawatt-hours (GWh).
One Gigawatt-hour hour is equal to one million kilowatt hours, and a kilowatt hour is enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours.
"In the first five months of 2008, consumption of electricity was affected by numerous factors that led to reduced levels of consumption, such as load shedding and a continuous drive from Eskom in encouraging users to save on electricity consumption," said Stats SA.
Economists agreed that the planned blackouts, known to South Africans as load shedding, was one of the biggest contributors to the data's decrease.
Investment Solutions economist Chris Hart agreed, but said that the decrease "reflected the slowdown in the economy".
ETM economist Russell Lamberti said the economy's slowdown was showing in the data: "I think we as South Africans are probably saving more electricity, but there is no doubt that the economy is under strain."
Lamberti said that looking forward, the country would see electricity consumption data start to moderate.
The Stats SA data also showed that the estimated total production of electricity in May 2008 decreased by 2.1% when compared to the same month last year, which is a reduction of 487 Gigawatt-hours.
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