Demand for electricity in the US grew by 4.1% in 2002, rebounding from a drop of 0.6% the previous year, according to figures released by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a Washington, DC-based trade body.

The EEI says the total amount of electricity delivered to the US market in 2002 was 3,776,797 gigawatt hours (GWh), compared to 3,627,736 GWh in 2001. Total aggregate demand for the two years ending December 31, 2002 grew at an average annual rate of 1.7%.

The EEI says the increase was