The industrial sector has started showing signs of prospective rebound as the drop on energy sales had already narrowed down to 1.0%, power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has noted.

Sales to manufacturing facilities and key industries, the power firm said, hovered at 10,570 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in this year’s nine months versus 10,677 GWh in the same period last year.

“Semiconductors and cement recorded positive performance for the first time in the third quarter, as key accounts diversified into automotive chips and resumed full plant operations,” Meralco stressed.

It added that the food & beverage sector, as well as generation wheeling from embedded generator similarly sustained growth.

There’s still a downside being logged when it comes to the energy demand of the other segments in the industrial sector though as “demand for plastics and steel continued to be affected by high input costs and lower plant production,” according to Meralco.

The uptick in energy sales of the utility firm had been generally propelled by the flourishing demand of both the commercial and residential end-users – with the bulk being chalked up by commercial end-users with a share of 37-percent; while residential consumption cornered 35% in the pie.

“Residential sales volume further recovered and raised year-to-date sales by 3% to 13,363 GWh from 12,926 GWh last year,” Meralco said, emphasizing that “the above-average mean temperatures recorded by PAGASA brought about by the El Nino phenomenon prompted households to use cooling appliances more often.”

Meralco similarly cited the increased consumption at condominiums and dormitories with the return of on-site classes as well as face-to-face work arrangements.

In the commercial sector, uptrend in energy sales had been generally seen with restaurants due to increased dine-in setup plus the array of social events; while there are also escalation in hotel occupancies primarily boosted by staycations, tourist arrivals as well as business and international events.

The real estate sector is likewise booming due to higher demand of office spaces; while in the telecommunications sector, energy usage had been boosted by high volume demand in telecoms and also for the requirements of the data centers.