Bengaluru: Karnataka’s daily power demand has dropped by a fourth by Thursday on the back of a late surge in rain as the monsoon season ended.After witnessing an alarming demand of over 20,000 MW a day a few days ago, the state saw a sharp cut of nearly 5,000 MW by Thursday. In Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) limits alone, power demand fell by over 700 MW for the like period.The sudden decline has given the energy dept a chance to replenish its resources and improve supplies ahead of a likely spike in demand in the coming days.Sources attributed the drop in power demand to reduced consumption by irrigation pump (IP) sets and air-conditioners. “Several farmers, especially in rain-deficit Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, cut back on consumption following heavy rainfall. The major load on the grid comes from IP sets and AC systems. With rain bringing down temperatures, AC usage has declined considerably,” a senior energy department official said.Until last week, Bescom region was consuming 148-149 million units of electricity a day, with a peak load of 8,000-8,300 MW. The peak load has since declined to 7,400 MW. “IP sets in our jurisdiction were consuming around 34-35 million units a day. Following rain, this has come down to 27 million units. The highest consumption and peak load were recorded on Sept 15, when demand touched 8,306 MW. IP sets alone accounted for around 37-38 million units of consumption on that day,” a Bescom engineer said.At the state level, Karnataka recorded a peak demand of 20,094 MW on Sept 11. This had dropped to 15,818 MW as of Sept 30.TOI reported last week on the surge in power demand and the sudden shortfall in coal supplies to thermal power stations due to the impact of a cyclone in coal-mining areas. KPCL held discussions with Union coal ministry and secured an additional allocation of 85 lakh metric tonnes of coal for Karnataka.Yet, the energy dept is preparing for any eventualities since India meteorological department has said unusually high temperatures could trigger another spike in power demand.Power Demand and Consumption in Bengaluru and Karnataka – September 2026
