As Punjab soars under an intense heat wave so is power demand soaring to new highs. The power demand in Punjab crossed 14000 MW on Monday for the first time in the history of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in the month of May. At the time of load exceeding 14000 MW, the PSPCL was drawing more than 8700 lakh units from the northern grid and 5300 from its own sources. The power demand in May has increased by more than 16 percent from last year. As per PSPCL record, last year the maximum demand was 11987 MW on May 23, more than 10000 MW in only three days and the rest of month it was between 7245 MW to 9760 MW. The maximum power supply was 2333 LU on May 23.The average power supply was around 1700 lakh units per day. The maximum power demand increased by over 16 percent in May in Punjab. The average daily supply by PSPCL has also increased by around 21 percent from 1700 lakh units per day in last May to 2070 lakh units per day this year. As per PSPCL report the daily Punjab’s own generation has improved this year after taking over Goindwal Sahib thermal and is around 325 lakh units. The coal stock at all three state run plants is between 19 to 27 days each. In the private sector Rajpura thermal has 25 days coal stock while Talwandi Sabo thermal has three days coal stock. A PSPCL official said that Punjab has seen a consistent rise in the demand for power for the last four months. The maximum power demand in the last financial year was 15325 MW but this year it may touch the 16,500-MW mark.