Centre hikes power quota for Chandigarh ahead of summers

To meet the needs of around 2.35 lakh consumers in the city, Chandigarh currently gets 345 megawatts (MW) of power. Following the Union ministry’s latest decision, it will get 545 MW. UT had requested the ministry to increase the quota after a study on power consumption.

To deal with the increased electricity demand during summers, the Union ministry of power has decided to increase the unallocated power quota of Chandigarh by 14% from April to September this year.

To deal with the increased electricity demand during summers, the Union ministry of power has decided to increase the unallocated power quota of Chandigarh by 14% from April to September this year. (HT File)

To meet the needs of around 2.35 lakh consumers in the city, Chandigarh currently gets 345 megawatts (MW) of power. Following the Union ministry’s latest decision, it will get 545 MW. UT had requested the ministry to increase the quota after a study on power consumption.

The study showed that City Beautiful’s power demand goes up to 280 MW around 10am in summer months, while between 2pm to 5pm, the load increases from 390 MW to 410 MW.

UT chief engineer CB Ojha said, “The unallocated (or extra) power quota has increased from 9% to 14% this year. Last year, we got 140 MW while this year, it is 200 MW. With this additional allocation, we are hopeful of providing uninterrupted electricity supply to residents throughout the summer this time. Our staff have also been sensitised to ensure normal supply.”

Besides this, UT has also started getting 30 MW of power from a Gujarat-based government agency on regular basis. “Since we have an agreement with the company, they have been supplying power through non-renewable energy sources,” sources said.

For the convenience of residents, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has directed the UT electricity department to ensure the availability of sufficient manpower for proper functioning of the department. Also, while rejecting the proposal of a 10% hike for the new financial year of 2023-24, JERC had asked the UT administration to go ahead with the same power tariff as compared to the last financial year.

UT’s power sources

UT administration gets 220 MW of power from different sources — 47% from Mohali (PSPCL), 5% from Dhulkote (BBMB), and the remaining 48% from Nalagarh. The power first comes to the 220kV substation at Kishangarh and Mohali. From here, it is passed to 66kV substations and then to 11kV substations, transformers, and ultimately to houses.