Surge in power demand triggers shutdowns, outages in Indore

Indore: The Western Discom has initiated scheduled daily power shutdown of at least two hours as Indore grapples with record-breaking electricity demand.The shutdowns come amid increasing consumer complaints regarding frequent blackouts and electrical faults.According to Madhya Pradesh Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited officials, the department is conducting scheduled shutdowns in 20 to 25 locations during early morning hours.PRO Avdhesh Sharma said that these shutdowns were part of ongoing pre-monsoon maintenance campaign that began in April and is expected to conclude by next week.Residents, however, are also facing approximately 10 unscheduled shutdowns daily. These are attributed to ongoing construction of roads, flyovers, and Metro work and increasing reports of fires that require immediate power isolation. “Besides, at least 50 incidents of power tripping are reported across the city every day,” he said.While unscheduled shutdowns typically last between two and 45 minutes, the cumulative effect is causing significant disruption for consumers amid the heatwave.Summer Effect In CityPower demand surged by 150 MW (from 475 MW to peak of 640 MW)Daily consumption up by 40 lakh units (from 90 lakh units prior to April to current 1.35 crore)Cooling measures for infra:Water applied to ground earthing of transformers to maintain conductivityFans, coolers installed at 50 locations to prevent transformer overheating