Power Consumption up 0.9% on Yearly Basis in September: RK Singh

Power consumption rose 0.9 percent on a yearly basis in the first fortnight of September, the Lok Sabha was informed by Union Minister RK Singh.

Power consumption rose 0.9 percent on a yearly basis in the first fortnight of September, indicating a spurt in commercial and industrial demand for electricity, the Lok Sabha was informed on September 17, 2020, by Union Minister RK Singh. Power consumption had declined following the COVID-19 outbreak as economic activity came to a standstill due to the lockdown.

Power Minister RK Singh, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, said power consumption has increased by 0.9 percent at 53.17 billion units (BU) from September 1 to September 14, compared to 52.68 BU in the same period last year.

Power consumption had declined by 8.7 percent in March, 23.2 percent April, 14.9 percent in May, 10.9 percent in June, 3.7 percent in July, and 1.7 percent in August compared to the same months last year. According to the power ministry data, electricity consumption had grown by 11.73 percent in February. Thus, the COVID-19 situation affected power consumption for six months in a row since March this year.

The government had imposed the lockdown on March 25, 2020, to contain the spread of coronavirus infections.

The data provided by the minister also showed that peak power demand in the first fortnight of September surpassed last year’s level, recording a growth of 0.7 percent at 174.33 GW. And that, peak power demand met was the highest supply of power in the country in a day.

Peak power demand met had recorded negative growth from March to August.

“The peak demand and the energy requirement had dropped by around 23-24 percent in the month of April 2020 compared to April 2019 due to the effect of the COVID pandemic,” Singh said.

“The peak demand and the energy requirement are increasing on a month to month basis since May 2020. There is a marginal increase in peak demand and energy requirement in the current month of September 2020 (up to September 14, 2020) vis a vis the corresponding period last year,” he added.

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