Chandigarh’s peak power demand touched 461 MW on Tuesday, the highest this June and the season’s record so far, as soaring daytime heat combined with hot, humid nights pushed electricity consumption to near last year’s levels even as the monsoon continued to elude the city.
The figure is only marginally lower than the 465 MW peak logged on June 12, 2025, the highest recorded last summer, according to data accessed by The Tribune.
City’s power demand has been on a steady climb over the past week. It stood at 400 MW on June 26, rose to 398 MW on June 27, then climbed sharply to 412 MW on June 28, 437 MW on June 29 and finally to 461 MW on Tuesday, the data shows.
This is not the first time this month that demand has crossed the 400 MW mark. On June 10, the city had logged 419 MW, after which the load eased over the following fortnight before the current upswing began in the past few days.
Mercury rise behind demand spike
The spike in power consumption has coincided with a sustained spell of high temperatures and oppressive humidity across the city, with the southwest monsoon yet to set in over the region. With both daytime highs and night-time lows remaining elevated, round-the-clock use of air-conditioners and cooling appliances has kept the grid under sustained load, pushing demand closer to last year’s peak.
CPDL says supply remained stable
Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited (CPDL) said it had successfully met the city’s highest power demand recorded so far this season, with the peak load touching 461 MW. The utility said the demand was expected to surpass this mark in the coming days as summer temperatures continued to rise.
CPDL said it had maintained a reliable and uninterrupted power supply despite the sustained summer heat and rising consumption, through proactive planning, continuous system monitoring and dedicated network management. The utility said it had carried out preventive maintenance of transformers and feeders ahead of the peak season, and had round-the-clock operations and maintenance teams deployed to address faults and complaints promptly. It also urged consumers to use electricity judiciously and adopt energy-efficient appliances to support grid stability.
Residents cite outages in pockets
However, even as CPDL maintained that supply across the city remained smooth, residents in certain pockets complained of power outages, frequent tripping and voltage fluctuations over the past few days, pointing to localised stress on the network even as the utility’s overall figures showed the system holding up.
Privatised network since 2025
Chandigarh’s power distribution has been fully privatised since February 1, 2025, with the UT Administration, on the directions of Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, transferring 100 per cent of the erstwhile public utility’s shares and operations to CPDL, a subsidiary of CESC (RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group), under the privatisation pact. CPDL currently draws 65 per cent of its power from renewable sources, including hydro, with the remainder sourced through thermal and nuclear power.
The utility serves around 2.36 lakh consumers across the city, including approximately 2.03 lakh residential connections, around 30,000 high-tension (HT) commercial and industrial connections, about 550 low-tension (LT) commercial and industrial connections, around 120 agricultural connections and roughly 1,600 connections under other categories.
Rs 50-crore infrastructure push
CPDL has invested over Rs 50 crore in upgrading the city’s power distribution infrastructure to improve reliability ahead of the peak summer season. As part of the upgrade, four 20 MVA power transformers have been installed at grid sub-stations (GSSs) to augment system capacity and improve load management, while over 100 distribution transformers have been installed, augmented or replaced at various locations across the city to ease pressure on the ageing network.
The utility has also laid 21 km of high-tension (HT) lines and 30 km of low-tension (LT) lines as part of the network-strengthening exercise, officials said.
With temperatures showing no signs of relenting and the monsoon yet to arrive, the city’s power demand is likely to test fresh highs in the coming days, officials indicated.
