AP declares 'power holidays' for industries from 8-22 April

Visakhapatnam: Worried about the power shortage in the state, the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APTRANSCO) has announced a power holiday for industries for 15 days from 8 to 22 April. This is probably the first time this has happened since the bifurcation of the state in 2014.

Energy secretary B. Sreedhar, who reviewed the state power supply positions, said the load reliefs in the industrial sector were decreased to supply power to agriculture consumers and domestic users, considering the prevailing weather conditions. Industries operating round the clock will have to use only 50% of their power requirement. All industries should also declare one extra holiday for operations along with a weekly holiday, working five days a week. As per the data, the power holiday would impact 253 industries working round the clock and 1,696 non-continuous industries under the APSPDCL limits.

The state now has only 2,000 MW against a demand of 14,000 MW, facing a deficit of nearly 40-50 MU per day. The demand for power usage has gone up from an average of 190 million units per day to over 200 MU. On 1 April, the maximum demand of 235 MU was reported and it was met with power produced in the state and 64 MU purchased from the market.

"At present, due to the heatwave conditions, household consumption has increased by 5% and agricultural electricity consumption by 15% due to abundant availability of water. With the impact of COVID-19, commercial power consumption, along with industries, has declined in the last three years. However, industries and commercial power consumption are on the rise," said the chairman and managing director of Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APSPDCL) Haranath Rao.

He added that electricity distribution companies are working to provide nine hours of power to the agriculture sector and uninterrupted service to domestic and commercial customers.

As per the TRANSCO officials, there is an increase in power demand primarily due to the resumption of economic activities in the state with the easing of COVID conditions. Most states were relying on power exchanges to meet their electricity consumption. The shortage is seen across the country and most industrial states like Gujarat are implementing load reliefs for domestic, agricultural, and industrial sectors. As the required quantum of power was unavailable in the power exchanges due to the crop-end season and heatwave, the officials hope the demand will decrease in the next 15 days.

Further, during the power holiday, each shift in the load monitoring cell at the corporate office level, the executive engineers and the assistant engineers would be tasked with monitoring the power supply. The power supply would be reviewed daily, and an appropriate decision would be taken for better supply.

Power holiday rules

· The government, private companies, and shopping malls are advised to use only 50% of air-conditioners.

· No using power hoardings and signboards between 6 p.m and 6 a.m.

· All industries should also declare one extra holiday for operations and a weekly holiday, working for five days a week.

· Only one shift should be allowed before 6 p.m.

Relief for hospitals

Load reliefs would probably relieve hospitals in rural areas that lack sufficient power supply. It may be recalled that due to a power cut, the staff at NTR Government Hospital in Narsipatnam had to deliver a baby with the help of cellphone lights. The use of inverter during the day and technical issues with the generator led to a power cut for several hours in the hospital.