US electricity demand last week plunged to a near 17-year low as government travel and work restrictions to slow the coronavirus spread caused businesses to shut, according to analysts and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) trade group.
EEI said power output fell to 64,177 gigawatt hours during the week ended April 11. That was down 6.1 per cent from the same week in 2019 and was the lowest in a week since May 2003.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected economic slowdown and stay-at-home orders would reduce electricity and natural gas consumption in coming months.
EIA said it expected power sales to the commercial sector to drop by 4.7 per cent in 2020 as many businesses close, while industrial demand will fall by 4.2 per cent as factories shut or reduce output.
Electricity sales to the residential sector, meanwhile, will only decline about 0.8 per cent in 2020, EIA projected, as reduced heating and air conditioning use due to milder winter and summer weather is offset by increased household consumption as many folks stay home.
Overall, EIA said it expects total US power consumption to decline by 3 per cent in 2020 before rising almost 1 per cent in 2021.
