KSEBOA - KSEB Officers' Association

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Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has increased the duration of load shedding from existing four to five hours due to reduction in hydel generation by over 50%. Heavy snowfall in the hills has led to steep fall in hydel power generation with a few hydel stations having stopped functioning altogether. Consequently, the load sheddings were increased by an hour. As per the information available, the total hydel power which Punjab was getting on daily basis was to the tune of 97 kah units (LUs), which has now decreased to 50 LUs only. Thus to make up for the loss in power supply, load shedding have been increased.

It needs to be mentioned that while Ludhiana is struggling with five-hour shedding, many cities like Patiala, Bhatinda, Jalandhar etc are facing only four-hour shedding. Ludhiana was getting 4 hours load shedding earlier which has now been increased to 5 hours while in the rest of the cities duration has been increased from 3 hours to 4 hours.

The load shedding can further increase if hydel generation further dips and also load increases due to usage of more heaters etc. So far, no weekly off has been imposed on industry, but agriculture sector is getting dedicated supply of about 6 hours. Sources revealed that wheat crop does not need much water in this weather, but still supply of six hours is being given by imposing cuts on domestic sector of urban as well as rural areas.

Apart from this, even the local faults due to moisture in the conductors or fuse box etc are also occurring in the polluted areas, resulting more power interruptions. The kite strings are another cause of electricity faults which are happening in many areas, said officials.

The availability of power is around 790LUs after giving the banking supply while demand is of more than 900 LUs and hence to cover up the gap, load sheddings are being imposed, said officials.

Spokesperson of PSEB, Ludhiana, Pardeep Gupta however said, “The load sheddings are being imposed as per the frequency available so that the system doesn’t trip. Anyway in winter, weathering load shedding — which are not of very long duration — is not a tall order.”


Source - Indian Express