Power lines wrecked by the May 12 quake were fully restored and resumed normal operation in Sichuan Province on Tuesday evening after 29 days of repair, the State Grid said.

It said 155 transformer sub-stations out of 171 damaged by the quake were back in operation; the other 17 were completely destroyed. It said that 2,607 transmission lines had been restored and work was in progress to rebuild the remaining 61 lines downed by the quake.

The worst-hit areas -- Wenchuan, Beichuan, Songpan, Maoxian, Lixian, and Xiaojinxian -- all had power back as of 5 p.m. Monday except for two villages flooded by the quake lake in Beichuan.

Power grids in Sichuan Province ran smoothly on Monday, with a peak load of 11.72 million kilowatts, which was 12.2 percent more than the daily maximum load of last year, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a daily update on Tuesday.

Figures released by the State Grid showed the Sichuan grid generated 272 million kw/hr on June 5, or 102.11 percent of the pre-quake level, while 259 million kw/hr of electricity was consumed on that day, 104 percent of the previous amount.

The figures mean that economic development was not fundamentally affected by the quake, an unidentified official of State Grid said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2008)