As the mercury on Monday reached a searing 45.5 degree Celsius, Delhi’s power demand too scaled a new high of 5,273 MW for the season.
The plight of city-dwellers only worsened in the intense heat as they witnessed long power cuts lasting as long as four hours.
More and more people switched on their coolers and air conditioners for much longer on Monday, causing the power demand to skyrocket.
The second-highest demand for power so far this season was recorded on May 12 at 5,125 MW.
The consumption is only going to increase in the coming days, as experts believe the demand is set to shoot up to 6,400 MW this year.
Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain held a review meeting of the discoms, Transco and gencos on Monday to cater to the peak power demand in the coming days.
Officials suggested nothing concrete has been decided yet about imposing fines on discoms on account of unscheduled power cuts.
Although power distribution companies claimed to have met the high demand for power without any load shedding, consumers from West Delhi and parts of East Delhi complained of power cuts.
In some areas, the power cuts lasted as long as four hours. Most power cuts were reported during morning and afternoon.
“A fault in an 11 KV line in East Delhi, led to tripping nearly 54 times. This resulted in rotational load shedding. The demand for power in Delhi touched a new record this season when it reached at 5,125 MW at 3.07 p.m.,” said a Power Department official.
The official said load shedding was restricted to 50 MW to 200 MW and carried out from 11.45 a.m. to 4 p.m. to restrict overdraw and on account of constraints in transmission and distribution system.
Delhi Power Minister held a review meeting of the discoms, Transco and gencos on Monday to cater to the peak power demand in the coming days
