Contradictory messages by power cos ahead of 'lights out' call

Ahead of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi's blackout call on Sunday night, at least one private power utility and the government-run Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) have issued contradictory advisories to their consumers.

While private players like Torrent Power have raised apprehension that the power grid might become unstable due to the simultaneous 9-minute switch off, the state-run GUVNL has sought to dispel such concerns.

However, both the private players and the state entity have urged their consumers not to switch off their home appliances.

In its message, Torrent Power requested consumers to keep their home appliances on till 9:30 pm if they are running them till 8:55 pm, while turning off lights.

 

In its message printed in local newspapers, GUVNL also advised consumers against switching off electrical appliances, saying PM Modi had appealed to people to turn off only lights for a period of nine minutes.

The GUVNL also said that the talks of grid instability and voltage surge are "not true.

In a message sent to consumers, Torrent Power said, "We request you to keep all appliances working until 8:55 pm to stay turned on till 9:30 pm. We also request you to turn our lights one after the other after 9:09 pm as it is extremely important to maintain grid stability. We trust your cooperation (sic)".

The PM on Friday urged people to switch off the lights at their homes and light up lamps, candles or mobile phone torches for nine minutes at 9 pm on April 5 to display the country's "collective resolve" to defeat coronavirus.

Meanwhile, GUVNL said the PM's appeal to people is restricted to turning off lights at their houses and not about switching off street lights or home appliances like refrigerators, computers and Television sets.

"A fear has been created about the instability of the grid and surge in voltage that could result in damage to electrical appliances, which is not true. This notion is false," it said.

Meanwhile, state load dispatch centres and transmission utilities are gearing up to deal with the possibility of any adverse impact on the electricity grid due to the simultaneous blackout.

Earlier, concerns were raised that the blackout might impact the electricity grid due to sudden drop in the peak power demand in the state, which was already down by 25 per cent at 125.81 GW on April 2 compared with the previous year.