The estimated consumption of electricity in February decreased by 10.2 percent compared with February 2008, the Pretoria-based agency said.

Electricity consumed for the three months ending February decreased by 8.5 percent compared with the three months ending February 2008.

Production of electricity also decreased by 11.2 percent in February compared with the same month last year.

The production of electricity by Eskom decreased by 11 percent for the same month of 2009.

The estimated production of electricity for the three months ending February decreased by 10.5 percent compared with the three months ending February 2008.

Eskom's distribution of electricity to the provinces for the first two months of the year also decreased — by 9.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

Decreases were reported for all the provinces during the same period ranging from — 17.5 percent for North West to — 2.1 percent for the Northern Cape.

The volume of electricity imported from outside SA's borders increased from 1523 gigawatt hours in the first two months of 2008 to 2100 gigawatt hours in the first two months of 2009, a rise of 37.9 percent.

The volume of electricity exported to neighbouring countries for the first two months of 2009 decreased by 12.9 percent compared to the first two months of 2008, from 2379 gigawatt hours to 2073 gigawatt hours.