Power sales in the opening quarter of the year fell as relatively mild winter weather prevailed throughout much of the country.
The drop of nearly 3.5% continued a trend of weak sales performance seen in the utility space over the past several quarters, according to SNL Energy data.
SNL Energy's analysis showed a pronounced decrease in total retail power sales, to 341.7 million MWh in the first quarter, down from 354 million MWh in the same quarter of 2011, for a sample of 37 utility holding companies.
