The unbridled rise in energy demand is due to the gross indiscipline by field level staff of TSSPDCL & TSNPDCL, say experts.The total energy required per day, as estimated on October 4, stood at 160.332 MU, which is over 15 MU less than that recorded on Monday, at 175.725 MU.
Energy required is calculated based on the unrestricted peak demand, which stood at a whopping 7,676 MW on Monday, as against the 7,234 MW on October 4. The rise of 442 MW within such short span is highly impossible, say officials. A realistic estimate posts the energy requirement for Telangana at about 6,300 MW, they assert. “The demand figures are inflated, and caused by the field officials not adhering to the schedules,” says an official.
According to him, the field officers are giving into pressures by farmers and politicians, and supplying power on the sly for agriculture in the hours of power cut specified for the area. With grid frequency coming down due to such unexpected loads, officials at the head office are imposing unscheduled load reliefs on other areas. Unfortunately, the State Load Despatch Centre, the authority to maintain grid frequency, has no system in place to monitor loads from a centralised location.
As a result, SLDC officials, unaware of field manipulations, end up adding double the loads to the estimated energy requirement, which the system is relieved of during the hours of power cuts.
