Government may reconsider load-shedding, thanks to rains

Heavy rainfall in many parts of the State has brought down power consumption and the energy department is now reconsidering its decision on load-shedding.

Amid the government’s conflicting statements on the power situation in the State (it once said there was surplus power but later declared there was shortage), the long-term load-shedding in force from Monday may end soon.

Normalcy to the power situation in the State may return as many places received good rainfall on Tuesday.

The rainfall has significantly brought down the pressure on irrigation pumpsets, which on any normal day consume about 42 per cent of the total energy consumed in the State.

“The consumption has dropped drastically. Total consumption across the State was 178 million units on Tuesday and the gap between demand and supply was just two million units,” said Pankaj Kumar Pandey, managing director of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom). “This has helped us manage the situation.”

Besides, the thermal stations which had stopped generating power a couple of days ago have resumed functioning, further improving the power scenario in the State.

“In most cases, the power problem is more on account of technical reasons like overloaded lines and transformer problems than shortage,” he said.

The thermal units at Bellary power station have resumed functioning, Pandey said and exuded confidence that the situation could be managed for the time being.

An official source in the energy sector, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the reduction in consumption and said that in view of the changed situation, load-shedding would be reconsidered.

Earlier this week, the State had said it faced a shortage of 1,650 megawatts of power as one unit each at Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) and Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) had stopped generation.

The government also announced imposing scheduled load-shedding for two hours in urban areas and six hours in rural areas.

But several questions were raised over the announcement such as whether the government could announce load-shedding without obtaining necessary permission from the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) as per the Electricity Act.