Electricity consumption in the country reached 47,143 Gigawatts-hours (GWh), up 0.6% compared to January 2024, according to data from the Energy Research Company (EPE). Among the consumer classes, the highlight was the industry, which presented a 3% increase in January 2025, reaching 15,985 GWh, in the highest volume for the month of all the historical series.
Among the ten most electrointensive industrial sectors, eight recorded consumption growth. The automotive led the ranking, up 9.7%, in line with vehicle production, which grew 15.1% in January.
Following is metallurgy, which expanded its electricity demand by 4.8%, pulled by aluminum production; the manufacture of rubber products and plastic material (up 4.1%); food products (+3.9%); non -metallic mineral products (+3.8%); Extraction of metal minerals (+3.6%), and textile sector (+3.3%).
The chemical sector consumed 2% more in January, below the industry average in the period, while paper and pulp production remained stable (-0.1%). Already metal products dropped 1.1%.
Residential
The residential class also registered growth in electricity consumption: there were 15,637 GWh, which corresponds to an increase of 1.4% compared to January 2024. High interrupted the fall movement observed in the previous month.
For EPE, the main factors that may have contributed to the highest consumption of homes is the 2.3%expansion in the number of residential consumers and the improvement in employment and income conditions in the country. The increase was concentrated in the Southeast (+2.4%) and Northeast (+2.2%).
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In the commercial class, there was a 1.7% decrease in electricity consumption in January, facing the same month last year, to 8,793 GWh. EPE pointed out that the retraction represents a slowdown in relation to the fall observed in the previous month. According to the institution, the retreat would be related to the occurrence of milder temperatures compared to January 2024.
Hiring environment
The Free Energy Market, where the consumer chooses its electricity supplier, represented 43.2% of national consumption, or 20,374 GWh. Demand increased by 9.7% in January, in the annual comparison, while the number of consumers grew by 64.5% in the period.
Already the regulated market, served by the distributors, corresponded to 56.8% of Brazilian consumption, or 26,769 GWh, with 5.3% drop in demand and up 1.8% in the number of consumers against last year.
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“The free market migration movement to the Free Market remains intense after opening to all consumers of Group A in January 2024,” says EPE in its monthly review. The institution cited data from the National Electric Energy Agency, according to which nearly 28,000 consumers migrated to the free hiring environment (ACL) in 2024, scheduled for another 14,000 migrations in 2025.
