India's fundamental shortage of energy has been well-documented: the country does not generate enough power to meet the fast-growing demand for electricity from factories, institutions like hospitals and subway systems and private homes.
Whether or not this shortage had any direct impact on the power outages Monday and Tuesday is still being determined by central government authorities.
But one thing is certain: some individual states, particularly in India's north, have been drawing much more power than expected. When this happens, state authorities are warned by various regional authorities about the excess usage, and penalties may be imposed. Still, the supply of power often continues uninterrupted, sometimes straining the system.
On Monday, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in New Delhi reprimanded electricity authorities in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Har yana and Uttarakhand. Officers have been summoned to a hearing, scheduled to be held in two weeks.
Uttar Pradesh tops the states in power overdraws, according to the latest report from the National Load Dispatch Center, which monitors national power use. In June, Uttar Pradesh drew 750 million units more of power than it had scheduled, or 25 percent more than expected.
Punjab and Haryana also surpassed their limits by significant margins, about 7 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively. West India has shown great discipline, led by Gujarat, which drew about 30 percent less power than the state's assigned quota. The eastern region, which also suffered a grid collapse Tuesday, consumed 7.5 percent less power last month than was expected.
“I want to inform the states not to draw more power that your quota allotted,†India's minister for power, Sushil Kumar Shinde, said at a news conference in Delhi on Tuesday. “If you do that, it will create a problem for the nation.â€
