Growth in electricity use slows

China’s growth in electricity consumption fell for the second consecutive month to 2.9% year-on-year in September, suggesting weaker industrial activity, The Wall Street Journal reported. September’s growth rate was the slowest since at least August 2010, rising to 405.1 billion kilowatt-hours, according to a statement Wednesday by the National Energy Administration. Growth in August was also low at 3.6%, compared with the full-year 2011 expansion of 11.7%. The lower figure was largely due to flagging growth from industrial users, which make up 70% of China’s total power consumption. Power consumption by industrial users grew by just 1% annually in September. The electricity regulator has projected overall power use in China to rise 7% to 5.1 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2012.