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Power consumption hits record high on Monday

The peak hour demand, from 7 pm to 11.30 pm, was at 4264 MW the other day, as against the average 4000 MW.

Kochi: With rising mercury, household power consumption in the state has gone up significantly, and on Monday it touched a record 84.21 million units.

"The power consumption went up by three to four million units since last week when the heatwave started. The average consumption at this time of the year is 79 million units," said deputy chief engineer, Kerala State Electricity Board, P. Kesavadas.

The peak hour demand, from 7 pm to 11.30 pm, was at 4264 MW the other day, as against the average 4000 MW.

"We expect the high consumption to continue till March 29. The IMD has predicted heatwave till then, and there are possibilities of summer rain after that," he said.

The previous record consumption was on March 19 - 83.08 MU. The usage of air-conditioners and electric equipment like fans throughout the day resulted in a sudden rise.Meanwhile, the KSEB said there is nothing to panic as the reservoirs in major hydel dams have enough water and that the 2016 situation, when the inflow was the lowest, might not repeat.

"Currently, the water level in the dams is nearly 46 per cent of the total capacity. Compared to the previous year, there is a storage of water to generate 900MU power as on Tuesday," Mr Kesavadas said.The KSEB has prepared an action plan to ensure enough water for power generation and drinking purposes until the first week of June.

"We'll continue to generate 22 MU electricity per day domestically while purchasing up to 80 MU from the Central pool during April and May," he said.

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