Overview
- KSEB officials said demand surged to roughly 5,400 MW on Friday while available supply was about 4,200 MW, leaving a shortfall that forced repeated evening and late‑night feeder restrictions.
- The board has started an Outage Management System and is sending SMS alerts while building a consumer app to give advance notice of planned restrictions.
- Officials blame a year‑on‑year demand rise of about 1,000 MW driven by heavier air‑conditioning use and late‑night electric‑vehicle charging together with low hydropower reservoirs after a weak monsoon and limited thermal imports because of coal shortages.
- Short‑term purchases have failed to fill the gap because day‑ahead and real‑time power markets show little availability, and long‑term contracts cannot be executed quickly; a cancelled 465 MW PPA is the focus of an escalating political and legal dispute.
- The Chief Minister convened emergency reviews and ordered immediate measures while the government announced planned battery storage projects including a proposed 500 MW BESS and a new power policy due in October as steps to reduce future night‑time shortfalls.