The drop in energy consumption in October was felt in several sectors. Factors beyond the increase in the electricity bill are involved in the issue.

According to the Comerc index, the main sectors of the economy had a small drop in energy consumption in October. Despite being a retraction of only 0,27%, the decrease in energy use by some sectors was offset by the increase in energy consumption From others.

The fall within the historical margin was driven by the sectors Retail (0,11%), Manufactured (3,56%), Auto Parts and Vehicles (3,66%) and Electromechanical (4,61%).

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Fluctuation in consumption may not only be related to the increase in electricity bill values

Going against the trend of falling sectors, there were 5 sectors with high consumption: Pulp and Paper (0,29%), Steel and Metallurgy (1,40%), Construction Materials (1.51%) and Packaging (1,71% ).

The falls of increases in energy consumption shown by the Comerc index do not have as their only reason the escalation in the values ​​of electric energy due to the water crisis.

Among the markets that had the biggest drops in October this year, we can also see the influence of another crisis, this global one, which many markets are currently experiencing: the microchip crisis.

So much so that the most extreme drop rates were seen in markets that, in some way, were negatively affected by the difficulty of microchip producers in supplying the market in its entirety.

In addition, it is also noted that there was an increase in energy consumption during that month of October, where, for example, the pulp and paper sector can be seen, which had a considerable increase in demand due to the increase in the consumption of sanitary napkins, motivated by the pandemic.

The packaging market has also seen a considerable increase in its activities due to the increase in online shopping, caused by the Covid restrictions.

Another aspect that needs to be taken into account is the decrease in energy consumption also caused by microgeneration of energy on its own.

Several markets have been rethinking their energy matrix through the increase in electrical energy from the grid, considering possibilities of generation on their own.

A clear example of this is the number of pulp and paper companies that have installed or are in the process of installing small thermoelectric plants, using their own chips and other waste from the production of pulp and paper, to generate at least part of their energy used in the factory.

Another detail to highlight is the increase in the installation of solar panels in companies. According to the monthly energy bulletin, there was a 67% increase in solar energy generation in Brazil in 2021 and part of this is related to companies and industries.