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Electricity demand and generating capacity
Following is a question by the Hon Christine Loh and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Gordon Siu, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday);
Question:
Under the scheme of control agreements, the profit levels of the territory's electric utilities are directly linked to building more power stations and electricity generating hardware. The utilities have pointed out that building new power stations and generating hardware is justified as the trends in present demand levels point to future shortfalls in generating capacity. In this connection, will the Administration provide this Council with a graphic breakdown of the 1994 electricity consumption patterns, both in total and by economic sector (industrial, commercial and domestic) in one-hour intervals, so that the public can see how electricity demand correlates with generating capacity?
Reply:
The Hongkong Electric Company Limited and the China Light and Power Company Limited have provided the attached graphical breakdowns of the electricity consumption patterns in their respective supply areas in 1994. The information is presented by each company in the form of 12 graphs indicating the pattern of electricity consumption on one day in each month of the year.
The companies are unable to provide electricity consumption patterns by economic sector in one-hour intervals as they have not recorded data in that manner. I have asked the companies to consider how hourly power consumption patterns can be classified by economic sectors, to collect the data and to provide me with the results of their studies for presentation to Members in due course.