Rio, June 3, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The consumption of electric energy appearing in March's bills amounted to 25,284 GWh, a growth of 8.7% compared to March, 2002, and a cumulative variation of 9.1% over the last 12 months. During the first quarter of this year, energy consumption totalled 68,334 GWh, a 10.3% increase over the first quarter of 2002.

These data were released yesterday (2) by Eletrobrás's Energy Studies and Market Department, on the basis of information supplied by electric energy concessionaries. Eletrobrás's expectation is for Brazil's total consumption this year to equal the levels attained in 2000, assuming that current conditions remain unaltered, representing a total annual growth of 7.1%.

Repeating the same phenomenon recorded in February, the Interconnected Northeast network was the subsystem that showed the greatest growth in March, with an 18.2% increase for the month. Over the past 12 months, the greatest result was registered by the Interconnected North Subsystem, in which consumption grew 15.8%. (DAS)