Indore: The city on Thursday consumed 10 MW of extra electricity as people remained glued to television sets to see the results of Lok Sabha elections. According to MP West Power Distribution Company Ltd (west discom), the consumption of electricity from 8 pm to 12 midnight, when the election results were being telecast on news channels, was 10 MW more compared to what was consumed on Wednesday. The power consumption on Wednesday was 540 MW, which was highest in the city this summer. However, the consumption on Thursday was 550 MW, highest in the history of the state’s commercial capital. According to west discom, television consumes 150 to 350 watts of power depending upon size and circuit of the TV set. If a TV remains turned on for 16 hours (as it happened on Thursday) then one TV consumes about two to three units of power.
As per a survey of west dicsom, there are about 5 lakh TV sets in the city whereas their number is about 40 lakh in all 15 districts in Indore and Ujjain divisions. During the polls results, people who remained glued to their TV sets also used air-conditioners, air-coolers, fans to beat the heat. This contributed immensely to power consumption. “On May 22, power consumption was 3375 MW in all 15 districts under west discom, which shot up to a record 3,465 MW the following day,” said Vikas Narwal, managing director, west discom. He said west discom was ready to meet the increased demand. “We ensured uninterrupted supply of power during results. Electricity consumption in urban areas shot up drastically this summer,” he said.
