Chennai electricity demand hits record 5,014MW as outages hit T Nagar and ECR

Chennai's electricity demand breached the 5,000 megawatt (MW) mark for the first time on Wednesday, even as residents in T Nagar, ECR, and the western suburbs faced persistent night-time power outages. The Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation (TNPDCL) recorded an all-time high peak demand of 5,014 MW at 10:30 p.m., surpassing the previous record of 4,809 MW set on May 20.

The peak demand comes after a period of relatively subdued demand last summer, which was kept in check by summer showers. However, uncomfortable weather conditions prevailing over the past two weeks have turned Chennai into a heavy power consumer once again. Prior to this year's surges, the city's peak demand was 4,769 MW in 2024, which had held as a benchmark for nearly two years.

Despite the record peak demand on Wednesday, Chennai's overall energy consumption did not break its previous record. The city consumed 98.74 million units on Wednesday, which was three million units short of the all-time high consumption of 101.76 million units recorded on May 31, 2024.

The surge in power demand has placed significant strain on the local distribution network, leading to widespread outages on Thursday. Multiple underground cable faults, feeder trips, and pillar box failures were reported across the city. Feeders from the Puduthangal, Rajakilpakkam, Siruseri, Sholinganallur, and Perungudi substations failed, cutting off power to ECR and its surrounding areas. Meanwhile, planned shutdowns for maintenance work caused additional power cuts in Tiruverkadu.

TNPDCL officials reported that fault restoration teams, supervised by designated officers, worked to restore supply. To stabilize the network, planned shutdowns of up to 30 minutes were carried out in some areas.

TNPDCL Chairman and Managing Director J. Radhakrishnan stated that the utility has roped in additional manpower from Cuddalore and other regions to identify and quickly fix underground cable faults.

To address complaints that the central Minnagam helpline has been unreachable for many residents, TNPDCL has revived "fuse off call" helplines at 77 section offices across Chennai and its suburbs. Officials noted that consumers can now register their complaints directly at these local section offices for immediate redressal.