As Kerala has been experiencing relentless heat for the past few weeks, power consumption in the state has shot up considerably, prompting the state government to urge residents to exercise control when using electricity.
Kerala Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty said on Tuesday that power cuts are occurring more often at night in the state due to technical issues arising in the substations as a result of the increased consumption.
As the temperatures in the state rise, the power consumption is also increasing as people use air conditioners for longer durations, the minister said, adding that as a result, the substations get overloaded and the electricity supply trips as a safety measure.
"If people exercise some restraint and control in their power consumption by limiting the hours of AC use, etc., then overloads can be prevented. Yesterday, on April 29, the electricity consumption was 113.14 million units (MU). It ideally should have been less than 100," the minister told a TV channel.
He also said that if people exercise restraint, then there will be no need for the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to go for load shedding.
The minister was responding to queries regarding protests in some parts of the state by the public against hours of power cuts late at night and a lack of any response by KSEB officials on how soon the problem would be rectified.
One such incident was reported from Aluva in the Ernakulam district of the state, where locals gathered outside a KSEB office on Monday night and protested for several hours following a power cut.
On Tuesday, locals told a TV channel that such sudden power cuts were happening more often at night, and electricity supply was resumed only after several hours.
A similar protest was also reported from Malappuram district in the state.
Responding to these incidents, the minister asked what could be done if a substation trips due to overloading as a result of the increased power consumption.
"The sale of ACs has gone up six times presently. People run four ACs at a time instead of one. They switch it on hours in advance before they go to sleep and are kept running throughout the night. All this increases the load on the substations. If people control their usage, we will not have such problems," Krishnankutty said.
He also claimed that in Malappuram, when the government tried to set up more substations, people opposed the same and refused to give land for it.
"They oppose more substations but want more power. How is that possible?" the minister said.
He said the government has decided to continue with the current practice till June 30.
"Meanwhile, a meeting will be held on May 2 to discuss the power situation. A decision will probably be taken then," he said.
