Power supply and demand should even out by 2006

Power demand and supply should be back in balance in 2006, Zhao Xizheng, president of State Grid Corp, told the World Industrial and Commercial Organization summit in Beijing. Zhao credited government macroeconomic control measures for reducing investment into energy-intense industries, helping to restore a balance. He said preliminary estimates suggested consumption will reach the 3.092 trillion kilowatt-hour range by 2010, approximately a 6% annual increase on average. State media had reported that demand for power this year would be in the 2.115 trillion to 2.173 trillion kWh range, up from 1.9107 trillion kWh last year. Mr Zhao said power demand would reach about 4.6 trillion kWh by 2020.