EN 
PT_BR 
O national electricity consumption grew 9% in May in the comparison with the same period of the previous year, reaching 47,038 gigawatt hours (GWh), according to the most recent bulletin released by EPE (Energy research company).
At the free market, an environment where companies negotiate energy directly with suppliers, the increase was 10,4% using the same annual comparison basis, with a total of 19,584 GWh.
Highlight the increase of 30.1% in the number of free consumers, reflecting the opening of the free market for small and medium-sized companies.
In the distributor market, consumption grew by 8%, to 27,454 GWh. The number of consumer units grew by 1% in the period.
In May, the free market accounted for 41.6% of national consumption and the captive environment, 58.4%.
According to EPE, “the heavy rains and historic floods that hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul in May only partially affected this month's electricity consumption statistics […]”.
Read too: April records second highest energy consumption since 2004, says EPE
Residential consumption
Residential consumption increased by 13.4% in May, to 14,835 GWh, driven by above-average temperatures, increased employment and income, in addition to the addition of new captive consumers.
The increase can be seen in all regions of the country: Central-West (+19.3%), Southeast (+15.8%), North (+13.7%), South (+13.3%) and Northeast (+6 ,2%).
The biggest variations occurred in Mato Grosso do Sul (+29.0%), Rio de Janeiro (+20.6%), Paraná and Acre (+20.2%, both).
Commercial consumption
Commercial consumption increased by 11.6% in the period, reaching 8,747 GWh. “The better performance of the commerce and services sector and the heat waves in a large part of the country boosted the electricity consumption of the class in the month”, explains EPE.
Increases were seen in all regions: Southeast (+13.6%), South (+11.8%), Central-West (+11.1%), North (8%) and Northeast 6.5%.
“Among the states, Espírito Santo (+26.7%), Paraná (+18.0%), São Paulo (+17.6%), Goiás (+15.9%) and Tocantins (+15.4%) presented the highest rates consumption of the class in the month”, highlighted the EPE.
Industrial Consumption
Energy consumption in industry rose 5% (16,522 GWh) in May, with positive variation in all regions of the country: Southeast (+6.4%), Northeast (+5.4%), Central-West (+5.4%) , South (+2.9%) and North (+0.4%).
According to EPE, the biggest contributions came from the manufacture of food products (+161 GWh; +7.8%), benefiting from the increase in household consumption and sugar exports, and metallurgy (+128 GWh; +3.1% ), driven by aluminum production.
“The manufacturing of rubber and plastic products (+86 GWh; 10.3%) and metal products (+57 GWh; +16.0%) also stood out, with double-digit expansion”, highlighted the entity.
There was a drop in consumption in the chemical products sector (-33 GWh; -2.1%), due to the floods in Rio Grande Sul, which affected the operation of the Triunfo petrochemical complex, in addition to the drop in consumption in a large unit in the Northeast.
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