Pune: Maharashtra’s peak electricity use was at 32,389 MW on Oct 8, higher by 25% compared to last year, and the highest demand this month was on Oct 7 at 32,507 MW on account of higher temperatures and the impact of drought on farmers.“Rainfall was scanty mainly in Marathwada and Vidarbha because of the El Nino effect. As a result, farmers are dependent on agricultural pumps to irrigate whatever crops are left. Second, the higher-than-usual heat during Oct increased the demand from residential consumers,” Bharat Pawar, the chief spokesperson for Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) said.Daytime temperatures across Maharashtra remained 1–4 degrees above normal during the first week of Oct, pushing up the use of fans and air conditioners. On the other hand, several farmers have been operating agricultural pumps for eight hours to water whatever produce is left amid drought.Farmer activist Ajit Navle said crops such as cotton and fruit plantations required regular watering to sustain. Ideally, water is critical for soybean during Sept but that window has been lost because of lack of rain.“Maize and sugarcane require water regularly. Generally farmers in the area water these crops after eight to 10 days,” Jalinder Wagh, a farmer in Bhigwan, said.“So far, the electricity is available during the day for agriculture. There might be power cuts going ahead and we will have to manage the irrigation in limited hours then,” Amrut Deshmukh, another farmer in Bhigwan, said.An official from Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) said while industrialisation and urbanisation had increased, the overall base power demand over the years registered an irregular surge. “The peak demand is unusually high in Oct this year. We are expecting it to cross 33,000 MW in coming days,” he added.Officials said the electricity demand from industry was generally predictable. The major deviation from the regular demand comes from residential and agricultural consumers.Of the 3.1 crore power consumers in the state, about 2.3 crore are domestic consumers. They use 18.9% of the total electricity supplied. The 48 lakh agricultural consumers account for 26.5% of electricity consumption, as per State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) data.
