Tamil Nadu’s electricity demand fell nearly 2% to 8,313 million units in September 2020 from 8,482 million units in the same period last year, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority.
Though the State’s demand in September recovered, compared to the previous months, it was below the national average. The all-India demand increased 4% to 112,581 million units in September this year from 108,250 million units in the same month last year.
Power demand is used as one of the metrics to measure the level of economic activity. Tamil Nadu has the highest number of factories among the States.
The growth in all-India demand in September was led by the western and northern regions, which saw an increase of 9.2% and 6.2% respectively. The southern region’s demand was down about 3.8% to 25,274 million units from 26,263 million units in the same month last year.
Tamil Nadu further relaxed the lockdown in September, even allowing big showrooms and shopping malls to reopen, as part of the Union government’s Unlock 4 guidelines.
The State’s power demand had rebounded in August and September this year since the lockdown to curb COVID-19 was imposed in March. However, the recovery has been slower. The demand crashed 26.5% in April and 14.5% in May amid the complete lockdown.
In September, Tamil Nadu’s peak demand was 14,700 MW, down about 1.92% from 14,988 MW in the same month last year. The peak demand has recovered from a low of 11,435 MW in April. From April to September, Tamil Nadu’s power demand declined nearly 13% to 49,976 million units from 57,360 million units in the comparable period last year.
The Reserve Bank of India’s recent report on ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2020-21’ said the finances of the State distribution companies were likely to weaken further during 2020-21 as the lockdown had crippled power demand, especially in the lucrative industrial and commercial segments, while their cost structure was rigid owing to minimum commitments for power off-take in long-term power purchase agreements.
