How is the power situation in your state?

Tamil Nadu seems be very badly affected up to 8 hours a day

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle2927331.ece

I am now in Rajhastan where it is 2/3 hours.

Can the GOI really believe its myth about being a progressive country to compete in the rest of the world?

China has same energy shortage, and it owns half the world and there is a line outside its gates of countries with a hat-in-hand begging the Worker Paradise State to bail them out too.

Power cuts are a fact of life across India, but vary greatly from State to State, urban and rural settings, small town vs big cities- and even in localities within cities. So impossible to generalise.

In Andhra Pradesh there is a severe power shortage in rural areas, 2 hours power cuts in at least one part of the Hyderabad (unofficial) where some of my work lies and zero cut where I live. So far.

Suburban Chennai, one scheduled hour per day. In fact, I think this is for most of the city, but maybe not the VIPest areas. We have occasional full-day (9-5) cuts, ostensibly for maintenance, but some say that is just an excuse for more load shedding.

Two days back, I read that this may have to be extended to three hours --- partly to even out the disparity between city dwellers who have power most of the day, and rural dwellers who may have no power for most of the day. I can appreciate this: I don't see why city living should give us any priority access to electricity. I can appreciate it, but I won't enjoy it. At least, not in April and May: we might buy a generator.

24/7 electricity tends to be high on the list of "requirements" when we read posts from potential ex-pat residents. It's over-rated. Outside of those peak summer months, an hour here or there is, err, neither here nor there! With a UPS for my computer, it passes almost unnoticed. Whole days, or even multiple hours per gay, is a different matter: stuff in freezers is threatened, for starters, and battery-based power backup systems may not have sufficient time to recharge properly.

I can appreciate this: I don't see why city living should give us any priority access to electricity. I can appreciate it, but I won't enjoy it.

I would class Coimbatore as a city. maybe you have not visited, major textile manufacturer and exporter

Zero powercuts; except the occassional technical faults. May have to impose later this summer as reservoirs have a water shortage.

And with protests going on against KNPP, I suppose power shortage is going to get worse.

I haven't visited, but yes, very much a city. Is it just Chennai that gets favourable treatment, then? That's even less justified.

I guess I'd better enjoy our inequality while I can

In today's paper: two-hour power cuts, every day, for Chennai, starting tomorrow.

Until they change the area rota, we have no power from 10.00am to 12.00 here. I wish they would make it two separate one-hour breaks

No powercuts here in Baroda, Gujarat. I have never lived in a city in India with scheduled power cuts. thank god for that.

Lucky Gujerat.

From Sun Hindu

Duration of cut for domestic consumers doubled from Monday

The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) on Saturday announced power holiday for industrial units across the State with effect from Thursday (March 1).

In an official release, the TANGEDCO divided the State into six regions – Erode, Chennai South and Tirupattur, Chennai North and Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli; Tirupur and The Nilgiris, and Tiruchi; Villupuram and Vellore. On the day mentioned for each region, the industrial units located in the region concerned will not be able to draw the supply.

According to TANGEDCO Chairman and Managing Director Rajeev Ranjan, in the absence of exclusive feeders for the industry, it is up to the consumers not to draw power. It is meant to be a voluntary action on the part of the industry.

The Corporation's action is in response to the demand made by some industry bodies for the introduction of the power holiday system, another official points out.

As regards the domestic category, consumers in the rest of the State will have to bear with four hours of load shedding every day. This will come into force from Monday. Regional chief engineers have been given the freedom to decide whether the duration of load shedding in one spell of four hours or in two spells of two hours each, says the official.

Its not just industry and domestic who are affected. Whatabout agriculture.

Farmers have to ittigate field and use day labour for that, so if current is on and off at the whim of the EB how can he arrange labour? are all cows milked by hand still?

Presumably those in affected industries will have pay docked too.

To be 'Im all right Jack' and buy a genset is just aiding pollution and using an imported costly resource.

Sadly incompetence and mismanagement seem to be inbuilt into the Indian mindset, and no one complains!

Where I live here in Delhi it's really ok, only an occasional cut now and then and they rarely lasts longer than an hour. I don't even own a generator/backup solution simply because there's no need. The only times when it's really annoying is during summer if the AC goes at night.

And a location schedule published. We were due for 10am to 12.

No powercut on Monday, bar the usual few minutes here and there.

Two-hour powercut from 4.00pm on Tesday. It went off at 4.00pm today too. Looks like our scheduled cut is going to be 4.00pm to 6.00pm.

fsg, what you say is right, especially about gensets (Hmmm... I was looking at a German model too!). If we can live without one, we certainly will. Just bought a new car, have no wish to spend as much on a generator, let alone the cost of feeding it diesel.

Oddly, I'm better at standing the heat than my Indian wife is, but come April, she may unliveable with, and I may also be admitting defeat.

Nick, are there no solar solutions yet? More expensive at the beginning but much cheaper in the long run.

It is possible that the cost of our electricity may double at some time this year. Solar might be the way to go --- but I don't think it can be done economically. One would think it would be the obvious answer for a place that gets about 350 days a year of full 12-hours sunshine!

We use solar water heating. Practically, it is great: hot water nearly every day without ever having to turn anything on or off, and without ever worrying about the bill. Economically, though, it is a luxury; a toy; a fancy gadget that, for a couple in a small house will almost certainy never pay for itself.

I'm told we're in for an all-day cut tomorrow. It didn't look like it from what I read, but apparently a Tamil newspaper had the street names. I'll be simmering --- and saving up my 2-hour computer UPS time.

I guess I should go to bed as late as possible, so I sleep through as much of it as possible!

This is when you truly know you are more Indian than non-Indian.

Adiyogi