Overview
- The study from UC Berkeley’s India Energy and Climate Center was published during a late‑May heatwave that set a national demand record of 270.82 GW on May 21 and warns that cooling now drives a large share of peak load.
- Researchers estimate room ACs already add about 60–70 GW to India’s peak and could alone push peak demand to 120 GW by 2030 and 180 GW by 2035 if standards do not change.
- The Bureau of Energy Efficiency plans a 2028 update that raises minimum AC efficiency by roughly 25 percent, while the study calls for a longer roadmap to make today’s top models the baseline by about 2033.
- Under the proposed roadmap the report forecasts avoided peak demand of roughly 10 GW by 2030 and 47 GW by 2035, about ₹8 lakh crore in avoided power‑infrastructure costs, and net consumer savings up to roughly ₹2.5 lakh crore by 2035.
- The market already offers more than 1,000 AC models above the current five‑star threshold and the study finds higher‑efficiency units typically pay back their extra upfront cost in two to three years through lower bills, easing the transition for households and manufacturers.