August electricity sales up from last year

For first time since November

Wendy Natt, Sep 09, 09.

In the month of August there was a year-over-year increase in the amount of electricity sold to nonresidential customers in the CenterPoint service area for the first time since November 2008, according to a recent Economic Indicators email update from the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP). The 2.3 percent increase from August 2008 to August 2009 is “a positive sign for the Houston Economy,” says GHP’s Skip Kasdorf, since nonresidential electricity usage can be used as a rough proxy for industrial production.

This brings the deficit for nonresidential use so far this year down to 4.9 percent, reports Kasdorf.

See the latest list of Houston Economic Indicators from GHP (September 5, 2009).