📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Vinayaraj
Local
Kerala faces rolling blackouts as peak‑hour demand outstrips supply
✍️ theweek.in
🗓 25 Sep 2026, 02:17 PM
👁 12
Kerala’s grid is experiencing frequent outages during evening peak hours due to a shortfall between demand and available generation.
The state’s power network has begun imposing rolling blackouts each evening as electricity consumption spikes and the supply pool fails to keep pace. Residents across Kerala report lights flickering or going out between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., the period identified as the highest load window.
Officials point to a combination of factors: reduced hydro output from reservoirs, delays in commissioning new thermal plants, and an overall surge in household and commercial usage during the hotter months. These constraints tighten the margin between generation capacity and the load that the grid must serve.
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has issued a structured load‑shedding schedule and urged consumers to curb non‑essential usage, especially air‑conditioners and water‑pumps, until additional capacity comes online. The board also highlighted ongoing efforts to import power from neighboring states and accelerate renewable projects.
While the outages are temporary, they affect small businesses, schools and hospitals that rely on uninterrupted power. Authorities assure that the situation is being monitored closely and that remedial steps are underway to restore stable supply during peak periods.
Officials point to a combination of factors: reduced hydro output from reservoirs, delays in commissioning new thermal plants, and an overall surge in household and commercial usage during the hotter months. These constraints tighten the margin between generation capacity and the load that the grid must serve.
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has issued a structured load‑shedding schedule and urged consumers to curb non‑essential usage, especially air‑conditioners and water‑pumps, until additional capacity comes online. The board also highlighted ongoing efforts to import power from neighboring states and accelerate renewable projects.
While the outages are temporary, they affect small businesses, schools and hospitals that rely on uninterrupted power. Authorities assure that the situation is being monitored closely and that remedial steps are underway to restore stable supply during peak periods.