THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The sudden summer showers and the resultant fall in temperature have had a welcome impact for the state’s power sector. On Sunday and Monday, the daily consumption plummeted by more than five million units (MU), a first for this summer season.
But the KSEB is keeping its fingers crossed as the water levels are still low in the hydel reservoirs. On Sunday - considered a lean day as far as power usage is concerned - consumption stood at 68.93 MU, and on Monday, 69.45 MU. This is the first time this May that electricity usage is falling below the 70 MU mark, KSEB officials have said.
Almost on all days this month, the state had lapped up more than 75 MU, with consumption rising to 79 MU on two days. On the other hand, the KSEB hopes that the rainfall persists in the catchment areas of its dams. As on Tuesday, all the reservoirs combined were only 25 per cent full, with water enough to generate only 1029 MU. Idukki reservoir is only 22 per cent full.
The 2016 summer has exposed the chinks in the state’s power sector and its over-dependence on power imports.
For the first time in the state’s history, consumption crossed 80 MU this April. The highest recorded daily consumption so far is 80.38 MU - on April 28.