Moscow, 3 April 2006. According to the recent updates, in the first quarter of 2006, the power plants of RAO "UES of Russia" generated 198.5 billion kWh of electricity, up 5.8% from 187.7 billion kWh in the same period last year. In Q1 2006, the energy consumption across Russia totalled 271.1 billion kWh, an increase of 4.3% on 260 billion kWh in the same period of 2005.

The increased electricity output in Q1 was driven by the overall economic growth, as well as the higher consumption in January and February 2006 due to the extremely low outdoor temperatures.

In Q1 2006, the output of the thermal power plants (TPPs) of RAO "UES of Russia" amounted to 172.5 billion kWh, which represents an increase of 9.1% over the same period last year, while the hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) generated 26 billion kWh, down by 12.2% in year-on-year terms, which was due to the lower water inflow levels at the reservoirs of some HPPs during the period.

In March 2006, the power plants of RAO "UES of Russia" generated 64.1 billion kWh of electricity, up 1.4% on March 2005. The TPPs generated 55 billion kWh of electricity, while the HPPs produced 9.1 billion kWh. The country's electricity consumption in March this year made 88.2 billion kWh, which is 1.4% more than in March 2005 (87 billion kWh).