Heat spell spikes up Tiruchy’s power demand to summer level of 550 MW

TIRUCHY: As the city continues to reel under a prolonged spell of heat for the last two weeks, electricity demand has spiked in Tiruchy back to near-summer levels, crossing 550 MW on Friday after dropping to around 475 MW in early August.

Key points

• While the day temperature has remained above 38°C for almost two weeks, the maximum temperature in Tiruchy touched 40.7°C on Saturday.
• Demand has been around 550 MW for the past two weeks, almost returning to summer levels.
• When temperatures have additionally failed to ease, m Vasanthan, a resident of Thillai Nagar, remarked the brief interruptions were being noticed mainly at night.
• Tiruchy received a brief spell of rain for around 30 minutes on Saturday evening, offering some relief from the heat.
• Managing the rose load, particularly at night, has additionally become challenging, the official noted.

While the day temperature has remained above 38°C for almost two weeks, the maximum temperature in Tiruchy touched 40.7°C on Saturday. After mid-August, temperatures began climbing steadily, reaching 40.1°C on August 19-the highest recorded in 11 years-and touching 40.1°C again on September 2.

In practice, a senior TNPDCL official remarked the prolonged heat had led to the climbed usage of air-conditioners, coolers and fans, driving up power consumption throughout the city as well as rural areas. "Demand has been around 550 MW for the past two weeks, almost returning to summer levels. The summer peak was around 600 MW in May 2026, " the official remarked.

Managing the rose load, particularly at night, has additionally become challenging, the official noted. "Load management at night is tough. We cannot take up complete shutdown maintenance on weekdays as the Assembly session has been under way for the last three weeks. Saturday is the only available day for such maintenance, " he remarked.

Meanwhile, the rise in demand is not confined to Tiruchy city. Authorities stated higher consumption has additionally been recorded in rural areas, including Manapparai, Musiri and Manachanallur.

Meanwhile, residents in a number of parts of the city have noted brief power interruptions, mainly at night. Outages lasting around 10 minutes have been documented in areas including Palakarai, parts of Thillai Nagar, Cantonment, Ponnagar and Bheema Nagar.

When temperatures have additionally failed to ease, m Vasanthan, a resident of Thillai Nagar, remarked the brief interruptions were being noticed mainly at night. "Earlier in August, temperatures would ease in the evenings due to winds. Now, even at night, there is little wind, making the heat more tough to bear. Plenty of residents are relying on air-conditioners and coolers, " he noted.

Tiruchy received a brief spell of rain for around 30 minutes on Saturday evening, offering some relief from the heat. Weather blogger N Prasanna remarked the western belt covering Dindigul, Karur and Namakkal could see some rain activity over the next few days. "This offers a chance of isolated spells in Tiruchy over the next two to three days, " he remarked.

For now, heat spell spikes up Tiruchy's power demand to summer level of 550 remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.