PSPCL to impose power cuts in summer
Monday, March 26, 2012 - 19:00
By Vinod Gupta
CHANDIGARH: Punjab State Power Corporation ltd. (PSPCL) has sought permission from Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) to impose a daily 3 hour power cut in summer on domestic consumers and weekly off for industrial units.

PSPCL in its petition maintains that the demand always outpaced the supply of power and this gap is 27.59 % during peak hours. The demand of power also varies on depending on the season. The average daily power demand in the state varies approximately between 1018 lakh units (LU) to 1950 LU. The daily power shortage may vary between 189 LUs to 17 LUs depending upon weather.

PSPCL has proposed to bridge the demand / supply gap by imposing various regulatory measures on all categories of consumers in an equitable manner. The above gap between demand and supply is based on assumption that all the plants will generate scheduled power and the commissioning of new projects is as per schedule. The daily power drawl by the industry under open access has been accessed at 150 LU. From the new projects Punjab expects power from Mundra (UMPP), Talwandi Sabo unit 1, Rihand III, Parbati III, Chamera III, Uri III, Pragati III and Koteshwar. Mundra is expected to supply 95 MW in April and May and 190 MW from June onwards. Talwandi Sabo is likely to supply 522 MW from January next. The additional power availability will be between 200 MW to 339 MW between Aprils to December.

Last year the maximum power demand in state was 10471 MW and this year it is likely to touch 11000 MW with minimum 5 % increase in demand. The power available from all sources would be 7600 MW thus leaving a gap of 3400 MW. The average daily demand in July will be 1959 LU against possible supply of 1762 LU thus leaving a gap of 189 LU. Minimum power cuts on domestic sector to the tune of 2.45 hours a day is a necessity. Besides this a weekly off on industrial consumers and arc furnaces will also save 40 LU per day.