With summer heat intensifying in parts of India, energy consumption in households is increasing. Tamil Nadu’s electricity demand reached an all-time high of 19,387 MW on April 20 while the actual consumption at the end of the day was 423.785 million units – 50% up from the average consumption.
Moreover, Chennai’s peak in electricity demand was recorded at 3,778 MW on the same day, and consumption was 84.233 million units. Greater Chennai demand consists of domestic, commercial, and small industries high-tension demand.
“Domestic demand in Chennai is on the increase each year as more people from other districts as well as from other states are settling in the city. Between 2013 and 2023, the city demand has increased by 25% and consumption by 60%. In 2013, the power demand in the city was 3,027 MW and on April 20 this year, the demand touched 3,778 MW, which is close to the entire Kerala demand which is close to 4,500 MW,” said Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) chairman Rajesh Lakhani.
He further said the city demand is mostly domestic, followed by commercial.
Commenting on the commercial demand, the chairman said many big shops are now being opened far away from the core city areas, which come under the Corporation area. “Earlier, big shops used to be on Anna Salai and Parrys Corner. But now, T Nagar has become the shopping district. Many shops open very early in the morning and all lights and air conditioners are in use. Now beyond T Nagar, big shops are opened in other areas of the city. All these shops need three-phase power and also continuous supply. Over the years, the commercial demand is also increasing along with domestic demand in the city,” said the chairman.
He said many big company offices have opened, and these offices also come under the commercial section. “Big manufacturing industries are situated outside core Chennai city either in Kancheepuram or Tiruvallur district but their head offices or corporate offices are in the city. The power connections in these factories come under industries demand which is of high tension. These industries do not come under the Chennai demand,” said Lakhani.
As the demand increases, the load in transformers as well as feeder lines increase leading to tripping of power. “We are continuously changing transformers or increasing the capacity of the transformers to provide quality power to consumers. In the city, thousands of transformers have been changed over the years, including in new areas. Across the city, almost all areas will have power supply from underground cables soon. The work is on,” said the chairman.
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