The Hindu : Karnataka News : Power consumption up by 36 mu

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Saturday, Apr 19, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Power consumption up by 36 mu

B.S. Satish Kumar

BANGALORE: It is not just the political heat that has increased in the State with elections due next month. Power consumption too has increased sharply. The daily consumption has gone up by 36 million units (mu) in the past 20 days.

The consumption, which was 96.70 mu on March 31, touched 132.73 mu on April 17.

Though it is normal for power consumption to soar during the summer months, this year consumers had a bit of relief as untimely rains in March reduced the demand for power for two to three weeks.

However, now power consumption is back to a high level. What has caused concern among officials of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. is that power consumption should have been declining by this time of the year going by the consumption pattern in previous years.

Power consumption normally reaches a peak in February-March and starts declining gradually from the second week of April. But consumption is still increasing.

On April 17 last year, power consumption had come down to 115.07 mu (as against the 132.73 mu this year) after reaching a peak of over 130 mu, KPTCL sources said.

The situation is not yet alarming, as the State managed to save its hydel resources when consumption dipped in March. According to an estimate, the State has enough hydel resources for nearly two months.

Sources at the Load Despatch Centre, which monitors power supply, said that the State could meet the demand for power of up to 135 mu a day. But it will be difficult to manage beyond that.

At present, when demand exceeds availability, unscheduled load-shedding of about 30 minutes is being enforced in villages during peak hours to maintain grid stability.

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