THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With power consumption hitting another high on Saturday, the state electricity board has urged consumers to charge electric vehicles (EVs) after midnight or during the daytime. The state consumed 108.22 million units (MU) of power on Saturday, which saw peak demand logging in at 5,364 MW.
Having been forced to purchase power for peak hours at an exorbitant rate of Rs 10/unit, the surge in daily demand has put the board under intense pressure.
Peak-hour demand – between 6pm to 11pm – has also been seeing historic highs.
According to the board, soaring consumption is being driven by the rise in use of air-conditioners and EV charging. According to its data, the state has more than one lakh EVs. Currently, evening peak hour demand is being met with purchases from the Central Power Exchange.
A senior official with Power Minister K Krishnankutty’s office said that demand for power will skyrocket in the coming days, when the election campaign reaches a crescendo.
“We will then have to depend on the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) Ltd, the country’s power-trading platform, and the price will not be limited to `10/unit. The IEX platform is expensive. This has forced the board to come up with a proposal for consumers, especially EV users, to reduce power consumption by charging their vehicles after midnight or during daytime,” the official told TNIE.
The board has had to deal with recent issues of hightened night load tripping transformers. The other day, an area near Vattiyoorkavu, in Thiruvananthapuram city, was plunged into darkness at night. When the KSEB section office landline did not respond to emergency calls, consumers approached Vattiyoorkavu police to ensure that power supply was restored.
Not feasible, says EVOK
The proposal on time slots for charging EVs has not gone down well with the Electric Vehicle Owners of Kerala (EVOK), an organisation
with 5,000 members across the state. EVOK state president Anchal Rejimon said the proposal is not feasible as the majority of EVs will be on the move in the morning time, forcing owners to charge their vehicles during late evening.
“There was a similar proposal from the board a few months ago. But we couldn’t abide by it completely due to practical difficulties. KSEB could have resolved the crisis if it had promoted roof-top solar panels in households. This way, it could have saved power and even sold excess power to neighbouring states,” Rejimon told TNIE.
Moreover, with the Lok Sabha election less than three weeks away, the LDF government has refused to implement load shedding over concerns that such a decision would impact its poll prospects.
