Power Growth Rate Slows in Agro Sector

Despite the fact that electricity consumption growth shot up by 2.5% in 2018 compared to the year earlier, it fell by 2.6% in comparison with the average of the last ten years.
According to Tehran-based Persia-language newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad, a sister publication of Financial Tribune, subscribers in different sectors (industrial, households, agriculture) used approximately 261 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2018.
In the 10-year period (2007-2017) annual power growth rate averaged at 5.3%. Nonetheless, it halved in 2018.
Giving a breakdown, the economic daily noted that similar to previous years, household and industrial sectors accounted for the largest rise in 2018 -- 5.1%.
However, consumption in the key agriculture sector fell 2% in 2018, whereas it had experienced an annual growth of 8.3% between 2007 and 2017. Surprisingly, rise in the number of subscribers in the agro sector was more than the huge household and industrial sectors.
The newspaper said decline in power consumption for farming is largely due to the high-tech devices more commonly used in recent times.
Household consumption continues on the upward trend and increased by 2.3% in 2018 compared to the earlier year, indicating that home consumers care little about repeated pleas for reducing consumption. 
Industries and households account for 67% of electricity consumption in the country of 80 million people.
Almost $600 million was invested in power sector in 2017, showing a 72% rise compared to average of the last four years, and 80% of the funding was to expand transmission and distribution.