The drop in industrial and commercial demand in some cases is surprisingly steep, as illustrated below:

We Energies said in its updated filing that its electricity sales to large commercial and industrial customers are projected to drop 13.6% this year and recover only slightly, by 0.2%, next year. Sales to smaller business customers are projected to drop 6.9% this year and another 1% next year, and sales to residential customers are projected to grow slightly this year, by 0.6%, but then fall next year by 0.3%.

Source: http://www.jsonline.com/business/50090982.html

Clark Public Utilities reports that electricity sales to industrial customers is down 18.3 percent this year through May from a comparable five-month period in 2008.

Lower sales to the industrial group, which includes high-tech customers Hewlett-Packard, SEH America, and Sharp Microelectronics Corp., indicates that many Clark County manufacturers have shut down or reduced production, said Mick Shutt, utility spokesman.

http://www.columbian.com/article/20090630/BIZ01/706309977/-1/BIZ

Taken as a whole:

U.S. electricity demand is expected to drop 2% this year amid continued weakness in the industrial sector, the U.S. government said Tuesday.

In its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook, the Energy Information Administration lowered its power consumption projections for this year and next year, seeing only a 0.8% rebound in demand in 2010. The EIA last month had projected a 1.8% drop in demand for 2009 and a 1.2% increase in 2010.

"Retail sales of electricity in the industrial sector continue to decline, having fallen by 12% during the first quarter of 2009 compared with year-ago levels," the EIA said.

Source: http://www.easybourse.com/bourse/actualite/update-eia-us-electricity-dem...

Cheers,
Paul