Sanmenxia's power use increases in first quarter

Sanmenxia's electricity consumption amounted to 3.8 billion kilowatt hours in the first three months of 2018, a year-on-year increase of 12.6 percent, according to the local statistics bureau.

There was an uptick in power use in March this year as consumption rose 59.2 percent from the previous month and 18.3 percent from the same month last year.

Electricity consumed by the service sector surged 9.1 percent since last year, in line with a 40.8-percent growth and 11-percent increase in the primary and secondary sectors during the same period.

Power consumption in the industrial sector grew 10.9 percent year-on-year to 2.9 billion kilowatt hours. March saw a 97.7 percent increase from February.

There was a 28 percent increase in residential power use, data showed.

Power consumption is an important indicator of a city's economic activity.