El Niño heat pushes power demand in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa, Nellore

KADAPA/ NELLORE: The impact of El Niño, which has been causing heat and deficient rainfall conditions, is now being felt in the power sector as electricity consumption has increased sharply in Kadapa and Nellore districts due to deficit rainfall and the El Niño effect raising the temperatures.There are 9,20,477 electricity connections across the Kadapa, Mydukur, Proddatur, Pulivendula, and Rajampet divisions covering domestic, commercial, industrial, agriculture sectors, besides government utilities. The district normally consumes around 15 million units (MU) of electricity a day, but consumption has now increased to 17 MU. Between September 1 and 10 this year, consumption stood at 161 MU, compared with 125 MU during the corresponding period last year. Of Kadapa’s 40 mandals, 27 have recorded rainfall below 50 per cent of normal, while 13 have reported a deficit of more than 50 per cent. The groundwater level has fallen from 10.11 metres last year to 13.58 metres this year Officials attributed the increase largely to the growing use of air conditioners, coolers, and fans as daytime temperatures have risen to around 36 degrees Celsius.