All India Power Engineers' Federation (AIPEF) has demanded that the heat wave be declared a national calamity in view of rapidly increasing demand for electricity in the current conditions of extreme heat, Shailendra Dubey, AIPEF Chairman has written a letter to the Prime Minister .

V K Gupta spokesperson AIPEF said that the extreme heat particularly in northern India has triggered the peak power demand in northern states. On May 30, 2024, the northern region achieved a record demand, reaching an all-time high of 86.7 GW. During this month, the maximum power demand crossed 29000 MW in UP, 14000 MW in Punjab, 12000 MW in Haryana and 8300 MW in Delhi. India’s Power Demand to New Record Peak electricity consumption reached 250GW. That breaches the previous high of 243.3GW reached last September, 2023. The power demand has breached all the estimates of the Ministry of Power and is likely to go upward in coming months as paddy sowing shall be in full swing from mid - June, 2024 . In view of the above , AIPEF has requested the PM to declare the present heat wave as a national calamity like floods and cyclones and suggested various measures to tackle the situation.

The measures suggested by AIPEF include that the office timings should be changed to 7am to 2pm , All the commercial establishments, Malls, shops etc. should be closed at 7pm , peak load restrictions should be imposed on Industry, and shifting of paddy sowing date to June 25.

Power theft should be covered under NSA. Free power as a state policy should be stopped forthwith. States should ensure sufficient capacitor banks working on their substation to keep the power factor around 0.95. Ban water guzzling varieties like PUSA 44 and encourage varieties like PR126, Basmati .

Mid Term measures suggested include that No distribution transformer be loaded more than 75% of its capacity. Earthing systems at substations , distribution transformers be checked and well maintained. Old conductor should be replaced with a new one.