Pressure on power infra as demand for electricity surges

Pune: Surging temperatures have led to a significant spike in electricity demand, placing the existing power infrastructure under immense pressure.This seasonal shift forces households to lean heavily on high-consumption appliances like air conditioners and water coolers, while also requiring refrigerators to run at maximum cooling capacity to combat the heat.The strain on the electrical grid has reached a point where many residents are experiencing frequent service disruptions. Numerous consumers have reported that their power supply is increasingly unstable, with intermittent outages becoming a common frustration during these peak months."The power supply in our area has been erratic for the past couple of weeks. This leads to disconnection of the internet and affects work for those working from home. We need to ensure that our laptop and phone batteries are charged all the time, fearing constant power disruptions," Kalyani Patil, a resident of Sadashiv Peth, said.Sinhgad Road resident Deepak Gaikwad, while talking to TOI, said the sleep schedule gets disturbed due to power cuts at night. The peak demand for electricity in Pune city is in the range of 2,900-3,000 megawatts (MW) during summer. This is considerably higher than the peak demand of around 2,500 MW during monsoon and winter seasons.The peak electricity demand in the state was at 30,389MW as of Apr 20, as per data on Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) website."The excess demand load on the sub-stations leads to tripping of circuit breakers that hampers power supply to the consumers. The load on a particular cable surges during peak demand. The monitoring system sends an alarm to the officials in-charge of the sub-station. If there is a danger of damage to the sub-station on account of the surge, the power supply is disconnected by tripping of circuit breakers," Ganesh Samse, executive engineer of MSEDCL, said.In addition, power thefts also have an impact on the supply to consumers. This month, MSEDCL Pune has taken action against 1,045 people for electricity theft using illegal wiring and levied a cumulative fine of Rs10 crore.Power disruption in TalwadeOver 8,000 residential consumers and 2,600 industrial units were impacted in Talwade after a construction crane fell on a transformer disrupting power supply in the area.Three transformer poles and heavy cables of the substation were damaged, leading to power outage in the area since 11.30 am on Thursday."We did not operate a second shift as there was no point in waiting for the power supply to resume," Prakash Gupta, owner of an industrial unit in the area, said."The repairs were completed by 7 pm. We have registered a police complaint against the crane operator," Kiran Sarode, from MSEDCL's sub-divisional office in Nigdi, said.
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