CHINA’S July power consumption dipped by 1.3 percent from a year earlier at 503.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), figures from the country’s National Energy Administration (NEA) showed Friday.

    The year-on-year growth rates had recovered since March, when consumption fell 2.2 percent and total power generation dropped by its biggest margin since 2008.

    Experts attributed the July fall to a cooler than usual weather and heavier rainfall in the country’s south slowing industrial activity, according to a Xinhua report Friday.

    Consumption in the first seven months of the year reached 3.167 trillion kWh, 0.8 percent higher than the same period in 2014.

    Data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed China produced 509 billion kWh of power in July, down 2 percent on the same month last year.

    Average utilization rates at thermal power plants have fallen by 259 hours in the first seven months of the year, the NEA said.(SD-Agencies)