El Nino Push: Telangana Power Demand Hits Record 17,000 MW
The government has directed officials to educate farmers on judicious groundwater use: Reports
HYDERABAD: Telangana is witnessing an unprecedented surge in power demand this monsoon, with peak load crossing 17,000 MW in mid-August—the highest ever recorded for the state during the season. On August 14, demand touched 17,085 MW, a jump of over 5,000 MW compared to the same day last year. Two days earlier, it stood at 15,835 MW.
The spike is driven by deficient rainfall and heavy reliance on borewell irrigation, with nearly 400 mandals facing drought-like conditions due to an 18–20 per cent rainfall deficit linked to El Niño. Farmers have turned to pump sets and borewells to irrigate kharif crops, pushing agricultural load to an estimated 6,500–7,000 MW daily between August and November.
Households, industries and the IT sector are also adding to the strain amid higher temperatures and increased use of cooling appliances. Reservoir levels remain low despite July rains, curtailing hydro generation. In the first 15 days of August, hydel contributed just 199 million units out of 4,359 million units consumed, forcing greater reliance on thermal and external purchases.
To meet demand, the state is maximising thermal generation and ramping up solar output during daylight hours. The remaining gap, especially during evening and night peaks, is being bridged through short-term purchases on national power exchanges. Telangana is reportedly paying around ₹10 per unit for exchange power, far higher than the average procurement cost of ₹4.90–5.50 per unit under long-term contracts.
While solar and own-generation help keep daytime costs lower, the marginal expense of meeting peak demand through exchange power is adding financial pressure. Authorities said uninterrupted supply has been maintained through advance planning, network strengthening and round-the-clock monitoring.
The government has directed officials to educate farmers on judicious groundwater use and discourage automatic starter motors for pump sets to reduce load. With El Niño expected to intensify through October and reservoir levels still low, Telangana may need to continue leaning on costly exchange power to ensure farmers and consumers do not face outages during the kharif period.
