State Grid expects more summer power demand

The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), the country's biggest power distributor, said Saturday that electricity demand is expected to increase 8.4 percent year on year this summer in the regions it covers. The growth is 5.3 percentage points higher than that of last summer, said the company, which supplies power to 80 percent of China's territory. Seven provincial-level grids will see power demand grow by over 10 percent, with most of them in less-developed western regions, said the company. The SGCC said it is launching safety inspections on power lines, and taking precautions to minimize the impact of thunder and heavy rain on power transmission. China's power consumption increased 4.9 percent in the first five months of 2013 from the same period last year, the National Energy Administration said Friday. News of the soft growth followed a string of other key economic data that has pointed to subdued strength in the world's second-largest economy. China's industrial production rose 9.2 percent year on year in May, while the producer price index, a measure of inflation at the wholesale level, fell for the 15th straight month in May.