Thiruvananthapuram: The KSEB is fuming as the gods have turned on the heat during the peak of winter. The hundreds of religious festivals across the state have pushed up daily power consumption during December to 60 million units, a level witnessed only during the height of drought this year. Unbridled consumption might soon force the board to purchase power from costly thermal and diesel power stations.
On December 16, for instance, the state’s power consumption was 59.3 MU. “From now on, with Christmas season round the corner, the consumption is expected to even cross the drought-time record of 64 MU a day,” a top KSEB source said.
The board expects this high level of consumption to last at least till the end of March. December-March is considered as the festival season in the state. It is estimated that during this period, nearly 7,000 religious festivals take place in various parts of the state. Occasionally, the state hosts over 100 festivals a day.
According to sources, power consumption in a temple, church or mosque will shoot up by at least seven times during a festival. “Earlier, generators were used but now their use has been curtailed after it was found too noisy and highly polluting.
As a result, religious functions increasingly depend on conventional KSEB power to light up the event,” a top KSEB source said. As for the places of worship, it helps that power is offered at subsidised rates.
The December surge is an annual phenomenon. However, the consumption this year has shown a considerable increase. If it was 59.3 MU on December 16, the consumption last year the same day was only 47 MU.
