Power use goes up despite crisis

The power situation in the state continues to be critical, with both domestic and industrial sector facing scheduled cuts. The average demand for power registered a growth of 12.2 per cent as compared to the same time last year.

The average demand during June this year was 256.69 MU per day, as against 228.68 MU per day during the same period last year. While the demand-supply gap had narrowed down slightly a fortnight back due to rainfall, the gap has widened to 40 MU once again.

With power cuts three days a week, the industrial sector, particularly manufacturing units across the state, is working at 50 per cent capacity incurring huge losses. Many areas in the city are facing power disruption of two to three hours a day in addition to the two hours of scheduled cuts. “After a gap of a week, power cuts at odd hours are back. The unrelenting power cuts even after the summer months are over are too much to handle. There are power cuts even in the middle of the night,” said V. Rajesh, a resident of Mehdipatnam.

Incidentally, even tourist destinations within the city plunge into darkness for two to three hours at a stretch causing much inconvenience to visitors. “I was at the Salar Jung Museum on Saturday afternoon and it was in complete darkness for two hours,” said a visitor.

Despite the power crisis, the state has crossed the national average of per capita power consumption touching 1000 Kwh. For the first time in the history of the AP power sector, the per capita consump- tion in the state has crossed over 1000 Kilo Watt Hour, which is an index of economic development and enhanced activities in sectors such as agriculture, industrial and commercial.

“The AP per capita consumption of electricity has reached 1050 Kwh as against the national average of 813 Kwh as envisaged by the National Electricity Policy,” said Hiralal Samariya, CMD of APTransco, in a press statement.