BHUBANESWAR: As Odisha reels under a prolonged heat wave, the unbearable blistering conditions have sent the power consumption soaring in state capital Bhubaneswar. So much so that peak demand has jumped by over 30 per cent in the past three months. As per information received from Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL), the average demand of power in Bhubaneswar which hovered around 1,181 MW between January and March, has risen to 1,584 MW in April so far, posting around 25 per cent jump.
Similarly, the peak demand during the period also increased significantly, registering around 30 per cent jump over the daily requirement of the past three months. The peak demand of the city used to be an average 1,332 MW a day for January, February and March. It has suddenly increased to over 1,800 MW in April so far.
Between April 1 and 16, the peak demand remained 1,853 MW, compared to an average 1,178 MW in January, 1,348 MW in February and 1,470 MW in March, the statistics suggested. With the summer appearing ominous and lasting up to mid-June, power consumption of the largest urban landscape in the state may even grow further in the coming days, sources said.On the other hand, the growing demand and consumption has led to frequent and unscheduled power cuts in many areas of the city leaving people desperate in the sweltering conditions.
Though Energy Minister Pratap Keshari Deb had assured that there will be no power cut during summer, residents in many localities of the capital complained that it continues to remain an unfulfilled promise.
Residents of Gangotri Nagar, Nalco Nagar and areas near Lingipur panchayat office on the outskirts of the city said they have had a tormenting summer due to frequent power outrage, members of the Lingipur Welfare Association said on Tuesday. They said the low voltage problems in the area sometimes are as bad as power cut.
Not just there, power failure affected in central areas of the city too. Customers of Jayadev Vihar who come under Xavier Section experienced outage for over five hours on Monday night after the TPCODL struggled with a jumper repair. Making matters worse, customer complaint lines remained inaccessible, compounding problems and leading to resentment.“Not just the main complaint registration line, local fuse call centres seem to be ignoring calls from the customers,” said Jyotishree Mohanty, a resident of Jayadev Vihar.
Residents of Satya Vihar, Old Town, Chintamaniswar, Sundarpada, Khandagiri and many other areas also alleged unscheduled power cut and low voltage in the area. In Bharatpur area, locals alleged that frequent power cut in their area for last one week also affected the study hours of the students.A resident from Khandagiri said it took over 16 hours for the distcom to restore the damaged transformer in their area two days back. TPCODL officials said they looking into the matter.
With the heat unrelenting, sale of coolers and air conditioners (ACs) recorded a spike in the city. “The sale of ACs used to be less than five units a day last month and has since recorded a significant jump this month, especially in the last one week as we are now selling at least 10 to 15 units a day,” said manager of a leading electronics distributor in Saheed Nagar. Similarly, sale coolers also shot up.
Power and the City
Average demand (daily)
Jan-Mar: 1,181 MW
April (so far): 1,584 MW
Peak demand (daily)
Jan-Mar: 1,332 MW
April (so far): 1,800 MW
Energy pain points
Unscheduled outage, poor complaint receipt system and low voltage