A capacitive load drive circuit that has reduced power consumption due to residual carriers, and a PDP apparatus using the same, have been disclosed. In the drive circuit, the power consumption due to the residual carriers, which are formed when a diode provided in parallel to a switch circuit of the capacitive load drive circuit is brought into conduction, is reduced and the switch circuit connected in parallel to the diode is brought into conduction during a period of time from when the diode is brought into conduction until when the potential of a terminal to which the diode is connected changes. By bringing the switch circuit connected in parallel into conduction, a closed circuit is formed by the diode and the switch circuit and the residual carriers formed in the diode are reduced. The voltage of the closed circuit is substantially zero V and, therefore, power consumption is very small even if a current due to the residual carriers flows through the closed circuit.