If the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation had announced that your area will go without power from noon to 2 p.m. for two months from January 1 and you do not have supply from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. too every day, do not be surprised. The unscheduled load shedding also follows a schedule.
Any specific area in the city has planned schedule for load shedding for two hours every day. However, most parts do not have power for four or five hours a day. This is because of two hours of unscheduled power cut and another half-an-hour during the evening peak hours. In the case of drop in demand or better power availability, the half-an-hour power cut and the unscheduled power cut are not implemented.
An official of the corporation explains that every day has six slots for the scheduled two-hour shutdown – three in the morning and three in the afternoon. If the scheduled power cut is in the morning in an area, though not announced the unscheduled power cut is in the afternoon slot. Thus, areas that have load shedding from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. will have unscheduled power cut from noon to 2 p.m.
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The demand for power is high during peak hours (6 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and hence there is a half-an-hour shutdown during the peak hours too.
K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, says that unscheduled power cut from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. affects households. By announcing the schedule for just two hours every day, the public are misguided. The corporation should announce the schedule for four hours every day.