Power crisis: Keralam CM chairs emergency meeting, issues directive for immediate measures

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KSEB chairperson and managing director M.G. Rajamanickam | Photo Credit: Special arranagement

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Friday chaired an emergency review meeting of senior officials to review the ongoing power crisis in Keralam.

In the meeting attended by Chief Secretary Bishwanath Sinha and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) chairperson and managing director (CMD) M.G. Rajamanickam, the Chief Minister issued directions for “immediate, high-priority” measures to mitigate the crisis.

The meeting was held amid mounting complaints over unscheduled and repeated power restrictions being imposed across the State as electricity demand reaches unprecedented levels.

Mr. Rajamanickam said the KSEB had already operationalised the Outage Management System (OMS) to notify consumers in advance about power restrictions and was working to expand its reach.

The existing system uses the KSEB’s internal application and the OMS to coordinate information from substations and sections. Engineers assess the power shortage and determine the extent of load management required at individual distribution transformers. Consumers connected to the affected transformers are then identified and alerted about the likely timing of power restrictions.

The KSEB is also developing a separate application to make the information accessible to consumers whose registered mobile numbers may not be available or may belong to another family member. The proposed system will allow consumers to enter their consumer number or registered mobile number and obtain information on the feeder or transformer serving them and the expected timing of power restrictions.

Explaining the severity of the crisis, Mr. Rajamanickam said Keralam’s peak demand touched a record 5,400 MW on Thursday, while the KSEB currently had only around 4,200 MW for supply. Last year, in September, the State had recorded a much lesser average demand of 4,224 MW. 

He also attributed the issue to a nationwide crisis of nearly 12,000 MW power deficit, prompting other States’ refusal to sell power under the existing circumstances. “With no immediate option for power purchase, we are left with no choice but to streamline our existing resources,” the senior official said.

Mr. Rajamanickam appealed to the public to collectively reduce electricity consumption between 7 p.m. and midnight to help avoid further restrictions. He said the State needed to reduce peak demand by approximately 900 MW through voluntary conservation measures. Consumers were urged to avoid unnecessary use of air-conditioners, postpone electric vehicle charging and other non-essential loads to later hours.

He added that the KSEB has been transparent about the crisis and was taking steps to address both the immediate shortage and the longer-term power availability requirements.

The CMD said he had spoken to his counterparts in Tamil Nadu and other southern States to assess their power situation. Many of those states were also facing shortages of 2,000 MW-3,000 MW, he said, although power restrictions were a more familiar occurrence there.

He observed Keralam was experiencing the problem more acutely because such extensive restrictions were relatively new to consumers.

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