Tamil Nadu's power demand falls sharply on Deepavali

CHENNAI: As people celebrated the festival of lights on Thursday, the State's power demand on October 31 fell sharply to 10,961 MW and the daily energy consumption to just 264 million units.

The sharp decline in the power demand is attributed to the closure of offices and industrial units for Deepavali. Power demand dropped to 10,961 MW on Thursday evening when Deepavali was celebrated. On the Deepavali morning, the demand stood at 12,243 MW.

The total electricity consumption was 264.217 million units (MU). It should be noted that the average consumption in Tamil Nadu is about 330 MUs.

In Chennai too, Thursday's peak power demand sharply came down to 2,665 MW at 10.30 pm, and the overall consumption was 60.90 million units. On Wednesday, the demand stood at 3,310 MW while the city's consumption was 77.47 MU.

A Tangedco official said that though they forecast a lower demand and cut down on the high-cost power purchase. The utility was prepared for it since the electricity consumption continued to drop in a phased manner since Tuesday, said officials.

On Tuesday, the consumption was 362 MUs and it came down to 337 MUs on Wednesday before it dropped further to 264 MUs. On Friday, the demand increased again as most of the industries started functioning and the generation has increased accordingly, said a Tangedco official.