Karnataka prepares for power supply during summer as consumers grapple with outages

As complaints of power cuts continued to pour in from various parts of the State, including Bengaluru, Energy Department officials said the department has scaled up power supply by more than 3,000 MW to meet the additional load through various sources, including thermal power, procurement from the central grid and independent power generators.

According to the State Load Dispatch Centre, power demand stood at 298 million units (MU) on September 30, lower than the level recorded a few weeks ago. In early and mid-September, power demand had reached 340 MU.

An official said, “The power demand might have reduced due to the good rains received in the past few days. However, we are in a better position in terms of power supply when compared to other States in South India. Power disruptions might be due to overloading, line clearance and even maintenance works at substations that go on for a day.”

However, consumers argued that power cuts are frequent. A resident near HAL in Bengaluru said, “Recently, the Energy Minister said there would be no load-shedding for now. However, in the last few days, power cuts have been rampant in our area. I have lost count of the number of times there have been power failures in our apartment complex. We are managing only because of our generator backup.”

Girijamma, a resident of Rajajinagar, said, “For two days, power supply was unavailable from 10 a.m. and resumed only after 2 p.m. My son has to work from home and with such power cuts, it is difficult. When we call the helpline number, they say it is due to maintenance work.”