Demand up, supply thin: brace for loadshedding

The miscalculation meant that for the power purchase agreement supposed to be effective from October 1, 150 MW of power supply was felt to be enough for zero loadshedding. Meanwhile, the demand has gone up to 308 MW in Pune. While the franchisee TPC has been able to procure power on a daily basis, the supply is inconsistent, sometimes as low as 88 MW.

Power is also drawn from the state grid but is still short of demand, resulting in power cuts ranging from one to three hours. Shantanu Dixit, coordinator of Prayas Energy Group, explained that as per the new load-shedding protocol, the MSEDCL has implemented loadshedding of five hours and 45 minutes, up from the previous three hours. The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission MERC has asked the power utility to supply data on the present loadshedding protocol within ten days.