Moscow, 3 October 2006. According to recent updates, in the nine months of 2006, the power plants of RAO "UES of Russia" increased electricity generation year-on-year by 5.3% to 477.8 billion kWh from 503.1 billion kWh.

In January-September 2006, the country's electricity consumption grew 4.6% to 697.4 billion kWh from 666.9 billion kWh, and in September by 3.8% to 71.1 billion kWh from 68.5 billion kWh. The September figure is much higher than the 2.05% increase projected for the entire 2006 incorporated in the forecast energy balance approved by the regulator.

In 2006, a dramatic increase in power use was observed for the first time not only in winter, during the period of extremely low temperatures, but also during the summer months. Such an increase is due to both economic growth and increased electricity use by the residential sector.

In September, the hydropower plants of RAO "UES of Russia" generated 10.6 billion kWh, up 1%. However, in the nine months of 2006, hydropower generation declined by 3% to 93.9 billion kWh. This was due to the lower water inflow levels in the reservoirs of several large HPPs located in the European part of Russia, mostly in the Volga-Kama basin.

Thermal generation by RAO UES power plants grew 7.4% yoy to 409.2 billion kWh. In September, the thermal power plants generated 39.4 billion kWh, up 2.6%.