Govt calls for judicious power use amid soaring demand and heatwaves

Government urges consumers to conserve electricity as heatwaves drive record power demand, with peak consumption crossing 270 GW this week

The government has urged citizens to use electricity wisely and judiciously as extreme heatwaves push up power consumption from air conditioners. Over the past four days, power demand has hit fresh highs each day, touching 270.82 gigawatts (Gw) at 3:45 pm on Thursday.

 

“Although we are prepared to supply electricity as required, due to the intense summer, let us all try to use electricity wisely and judiciously,” the Union Ministry of Power said in a social media post on Friday.

 

Daytime peak electricity demand met over the past four days rose steadily from 257.37 Gw on May 18 to 260.45 Gw on May 19, 265.44 Gw on May 20, and 270.82 Gw on May 21. All these peaks were recorded during solar hours between 2 pm and 4 pm. 

 

On Friday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned that heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are likely to persist over the plains of northwest India, Central and East India, and parts of Peninsular India during the next six to seven days. The IMD has issued a red alert for 10 districts in Uttar Pradesh, as temperatures climbed above 45 degrees Celsius. The national capital, too, is under the grip of a spell of heatwave conditions, with Thursday recorded as the warmest May night in nearly 14 years.

 

The increase in power demand this season has been unprecedented, rising sharply from last year’s peak of 243 Gw recorded in June. “A record heat and surging electricity demand continue to test the power system,” said Disha Aggarwal, senior programme lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

 

“A 256 Gw peak demand in the week of April 20 already highlighted how thin the margins are becoming: surplus solar during the day, nearly 190 Gw of installed coal capacity running at full capacity during the night, up to 5.4 Gw of night-time shortages, and exchange prices swinging five-fold between solar and non-solar hours,” she added.

 

With projections of 270 Gw already breached and hotter nights becoming the norm, India must urgently act on four fronts, Aggarwal said. The government should fast-track the commissioning of 9.7 Gw of battery and pumped hydro storage planned for FY27 and ensure adequate coal stocks, especially at plants located far from mines, she added.

 

Experts said the unprecedented situation requires wider adoption of time-of-day tariffs so that consumers with smart meters can optimise evening power consumption. They also stressed the need to equip discoms with AI-driven, weather-linked tools to anticipate demand hotspots and prevent transformer failures.