Power demand at new high as Delhi sizzles

The previous highest power demand in the city was recorded only on June 1 when it soared to 5,178 MW.

"The maximum power demand in the city touched 5,265 MW which is a new record of power consumption in Delhi," a power department official said.

Areas across East, West, South and North Delhi faced power cuts ranging from one to four hours in the searing heat as maximum temperature rose to 43.5 degree Celsius.

Power department, however, claimed that the distribution companies were able to meet the demand and outages took place across the city on account of local faults.

Power Minister Harun Yusuf yesterday pulled up private distribution companies for failing to improve the supply and upgrade its grievance redressal mechanism.

The power demand in the city has been increasing at a rate of around eight per cent in the last few years and as per projection of the government, it will reach 5,500 MW this summer.

As per official figure, the power demand in the city in the year 1905 was just two mega watt which had increased to 27 mega watt in 1947. The peak demand had touched 1,536 MW in 1992, while in 1997 it increased to 2,303 MW and further to 2,879 MW in 2001.

In 2002, the power demand had gone up to 3,097 MW while in 2007, it touched 4,030 MW. While the demand went up to 4,408 MW in 2009, the demand touched 4,720 MW in 2010.

Last year, the demand had gone up to 5,028 mega watt. which was the all-time high demand till it was breached when the demand touched 5,032 mega watt on May 25.