Electricity use drops 20 PC due to rain, power cut

The peak power demand fell by more than 20 per cent on Thursday night, touching a new low of 8,288 MW from 10,463 MW a day before. Interestingly, the peak power demand on the same day last year was 15,891 MW.

The sudden thunderstorm on Thursday afternoon had disrupted the supply in the city and adjoining districts. “Unexpected sudden heavy rain across the city and neighbouring districts led to snapping of the insulators and power cables. The weak insulators and cables will snap during the first rain. It has led to widespread power outage ranging from one hour to six hours in various areas,” said a senior Tangedco official.

The official noted that another reason for the outage was the suspension of the monthly maintenance of the distribution infrastructure. “The power failure would not be so widespread if periodic maintenance was done. Besides, the restoration of power takes longer considering the minimal presence of field-level personnel,” the official noted.

The power demand fell to 8,288 MW due to the power failure and not because of the people switching off their air conditioners due to the cooling effect of rain, the official said, adding that the power demand has come to the post-curfew normal — 10,500 MW — on Friday.

Chennai’s peak power demand on Thursday was 1,885 MW as against 2,311 MW recorded on Wednesday. In last one week, the city’s power demand has been slowly climbing up due to the increasing temperature. The city’s demand was hovering around 2,100 MW after the curfew was imposed but it crossed 2,300 MW mark in the last few days. Before the curfew, the city’s power demand was 2,600 MW while the State’s was touching 15,600 MW, the official said