Chennai

A senior Tangedco official attributed the increase in power demand to the high usage of ACs by domestic consumers due to the sweltering heat. “For the past one month, we have been consistently touching energy consumption of 360 million units. The high energy consumption could be attributed to various factors, including usage of air conditioners at home and implementation of 24 hours supply of power to agriculture sector from April 1,” the official said.

The city also recorded its all-time high energy consumption of 69.05 million units on Friday bettering its previous record of 66.43 MU on October 16 last year. “There is a sharp rise in energy consumption by domestic consumers thanks to the WFH situation. Many homes which had one AC have added another in the last one year,” the official added.

The high consumption has come a year after the lockdown impacted the power demand with the industrial and commercial sector taking time to recover. “We are expecting the demand to cross the 17,000 MW mark this year during the summer months. We are geared to meet the demand through additional power purchases as well. On Friday, almost 40 per cent of the state’s peak demand of 16,450 MW was met through power purchase, ” the official added.

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