VIJAYAWADA: Anticipating a surge in the power demand as the area under cultivation increased due to surplus rainfall, the State government has directed the power utilities to take necessary steps to meet the possible peak demand during Kharif season.
The officials said that the augmentation of agriculture feeders to supply nine-hour free power will be completed in all the three power distribution companies (Discoms) by the end of September. According to a statement issued by the department on Thursday, the rains have driven down the power demand.
"The power demand has now temporarily dipped to 168 million units (MU) this week. The average grid consumption in July 2019 was 169 MU per day, which has dipped to 151 MU per day for the same period this year," the officials said.
As the agricultural activity has gained momentum with the Kharif acreage under cultivation having increased to around 18 per cent more than normal, it will lead to increased consumption in the coming weeks and is expected to continue in Rabi season as well. "The improved ground water level may also contribute to high demand in agriculture sector," a senior official of Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APTRANSCO) said.
In this context, chairpersons and managing directors of Discoms - APSPDCL, APEPDCL and APCPDCL - informed Energy Secretary Srikant Nagulapalli that the augmentation of agricultural feeders in will be completed by July-end in APCPDCL, by August-end in APEPDCL and by September-end in Southern Power Distribution Company of AP Ltd (APSPDCL). "With this, the Discoms will be able to supply nine-hour free electricity in the day time to 100 per cent of agricultural connections in all districts of the State," they said.
Srikant Nagulapalli said that the government has already sanctioned Rs 1,700 crore to upgrade the infrastructure of agricultural feeders, and allocated Rs 8,353.58 crore for agricultural subsidy to power sector for fiscal year 2020-21. The government has also sanctioned 65,565 agricultural connections, the Energy Secretary said.