AP Power Demand Nears Record Levels; Utilities Manage Without Costly Market Purchases

Amaravati: Electricity consumption in Andhra Pradesh is reaching record levels as the summer season begins. Officials estimate that the state’s peak power demand may touch 280 million units (MU) during the summer months.

In the second week of March itself, the state recorded a daily power consumption of 274.85 MU, while the average daily usage currently stands at around 270 MU.

Anticipating the rise in demand, power utilities prepared generation plans in advance. With AP Genco’s thermal power stations producing electricity at near-record levels, the state has largely avoided purchasing power from the open market at high prices.

Power is being procured only in small quantities during peak demand periods — between 6 am and 10 am and 6 pm and 10 pm — in a few time blocks, each lasting 15 minutes.

Officials believe that due to these measures, the tru-up burden on consumers is unlikely to increase this year.

The advance planning by the power utilities has begun yielding results. Authorities had planned to generate about 265 MU of electricity from state resources, and the strategy has proved effective. Even on a day when consumption touched 274 MU, the state had to purchase only 5.2 MU of power.

From April, electricity demand is expected to decline further as the agricultural season ends, which may reduce farm power consumption by around 35 MU.