TIRUCHY: As the city continues to reel under a prolonged spell of heat for the last two weeks, electricity demand has spiked in Tiruchy back to near-summer levels, crossing 550 MW on Friday after dropping to around 475 MW in early August.
The maximum temperature in Tiruchy touched 40.7°C on Saturday, while the day temperature has remained above 38°C for nearly two weeks. After mid-August, temperatures began climbing steadily, reaching 40.1°C on August 19-the highest recorded in 11 years-and touching 40.1°C again on September 2.
A senior TNPDCL official said the prolonged heat had led to the increased usage of air-conditioners, coolers and fans, driving up power consumption across the city as well as rural areas. “Demand has been around 550 MW for the past two weeks, almost returning to summer levels. The summer peak was around 600 MW in May 2026,” the official said.
Managing the increased load, particularly at night, has also become challenging, the official said. “Load management at night is difficult. We cannot take up complete shutdown maintenance on weekdays as the Assembly session has been under way for the last three weeks. Saturday is the only available day for such maintenance,” he said.
The rise in demand is not confined to Tiruchy city. Officials said higher consumption has also been recorded in rural areas, including Manapparai, Musiri and Manachanallur.
Meanwhile, residents in several parts of the city have reported brief power interruptions, mainly at night. Outages lasting around 10 minutes have been reported in areas including Palakarai, parts of Thillai Nagar, Cantonment, Ponnagar and Bheema Nagar.
M Vasanthan, a resident of Thillai Nagar, said the brief interruptions were being noticed mainly at night, when temperatures have also failed to ease. “Earlier in August, temperatures would ease in the evenings due to winds. Now, even at night, there is little wind, making the heat more difficult to bear. Many people are relying on air-conditioners and coolers,” he said.
Tiruchy received a brief spell of rain for around 30 minutes on Saturday evening, offering some relief from the heat. Weather blogger N Prasanna said the western belt covering Dindigul, Karur and Namakkal could see some rain activity in the coming days. “This offers a chance of isolated spells in Tiruchy over the next two to three days,” he said.