Following increased demand from industry and agriculture, power consumption in Andhra Pradesh has touched its peak at 194 million units per day. This has led to unscheduled cuts on the domestic consumption.
According to official sources, the power utilities are purchasing power at Rs 9 per unit to bridge the demand and supply gap. ?AP Transco is purchasing about 15 to 17 million units per day paying hefty sum of Rs 14 crore,? a senior official said.
Owing to large-scale complaints from Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad consumers about frequent power cuts, Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy had reviewed the power situation recently.
Reiterating his wish to supply uninterrupted power to all the three types of customers (agriculture, industry and domestic), Reddy asked the officials to rectify the problems immediately.
AP Transco officials said that there are frequent tripping at Rayalaseema Thermal stations II and III.
?Due to overloading most of the thermal stations are suffering sudden trippings,? the officials pointed out.
Meanwhile, the officials said that the proposed 2,100 MW gas-based power plant at Karimnagar district has obtained necessary Central clearances including environment clearance.
While the state government has already acquired about 430 acres land for the project, it is now proposed to have a tie up with Reliance for supply of natural gas for the project, sources said.