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March 09, 2021ELECTRIC POWER, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2020 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the DailyStats will examine a broader range of indicators to identify signals of rapidly changing economic activity.
Electric power consumption (here shown as electric power available for use within a geographic area) aligns with broad economic activity. There are distinct seasonal patterns to electric power volumes with peaks for most provinces in January. Electric power consumption is also sensitive to changes in heating degree days.
In December 2020, there was a total of 936,552 Megawatt hours of electric power available for use in Nova Scotia. This was an 8.7% decrease compared to December 2019, though there was a 32.2% decline in heating degree days (as measured at the Halifax international airport).
For the year as a whole, Nova Scotia's electric power available for use was down 5.7% in 2020 compared with 2019. National electric power was down 2.5% with declines in all provinces. The largest declines were reported in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. The smallest declines were observed in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario.
Nova Scotia's electric power available for use in April and May declined by more than the usual amount for these months of the year, and also remained below typical patterns for July and August. Through the fall, Nova Scotia's electric power available was more consistent with the same months in previous years.
Across Canada, electric power available for use largely fell within previously observed seasonal patterns in December. The exception was Newfoundland and Labrador, where electricity available for use in December remained lower than in recent years (heating degree days were down 17.0% at the St. John's airport from Dec19 to Dec20).
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 25-10-0016-01 Electric power generation, monthly receipts, deliveries and availability
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