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Consumers battle outages, power demand touches new high in U.P.
On Friday night, the maximum power demand broke the past record for the third time in the month of May at 29727 MW.
Uttar Pradesh is facing record-breaking electricity demand due to unabated extreme heat with people struggling with power outages and low voltage issues despite official claims of meeting all the power demand.
On Friday night, the maximum power demand broke the past record for the third time in the month of May at 29727 MW.
This historic demand recorded on Friday at 9.45 PM surpassed the previous record set on May 28 at 29282 MW and on May 24 at 29147 MW. The previous year’s demand record was 28,284 MW in July.
“Owing to the ongoing severe heatwave in the state, there has been a continuous record of increased electricity demand and supply. On Friday night, the highest-ever electricity demand in the state reached a historic 29,727 MW, which has been fully met by the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL), setting a new record,” UPPCL chairman Ashish Kumar Goel said.
“Along with this, the state’s generation units have also set a new record by generating 15,788 MW of electricity,” he added.
Goel, instructed officials on Saturday to maintain stability and ensure adequate supply while observing the increasing heat and electricity demand. “All employees should carry out their responsibilities with full dedication and effort,” he asked officials.
The chairman also instructed state load dispatch centres (SLDC) officials to ensure special stability in the electricity distribution system during this period of intense heat and rising temperatures so that all areas receive an uninterrupted supply as per schedule.
Though officially there is no demand-supply gap, the ground reality is different from the officials claims. Complaints about power cuts and low voltage are pouring in from various parts of the state with the residents even resorting to protests at local sub-stations in many cities including the state capital.
“This is true the UPPCL has abundant power to meet the demand. But local breakdowns due to overheating of the distribution infrastructures are occurring. Similarly, low voltage problems are arising in some places because of excessive demand in the night coupled with lack of moisture,” said another UPPLC official.
