Power consumption jumps 14%

China's power consumption jumped 14.9%, to 1.57 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in the first three quarters on 2004 over the same period last year, according to a state media report. China Power News said output grew 15.2%, to 1.56 trillion kWh, while generating plant utilization on an annualized basis increased by 159 hours, to 4,068 hours, on average.