CHENNAI: With several districts starting to record above-normal night temperatures over the past few days, the state’s daily power consumption started surging and crossed 400 million units (MU) for the first time this year, hitting 405.9MU on Tuesday, though this is only a transition season before summer arrives. Power consumption breached the 400MU mark on March 7 last year.In 2025, the state’s daily consumption on Feb 24 was 373.72MU, while the peak demand recorded was 18,318MW. Chennai’s power demand slowly started increasing, with 71.2MU of consumption and 3,372MW peak power demand on Tuesday. The all-time high single-day power consumption of 454.32MU was recorded on April 30, 2024, while the maximum demand ever recorded was 20,830MW on May 1, 2024. Last year, the power demand and consumption was much lower than anticipated due to summer rains.Erode, Dharmapuri, and Salem recorded the highest departure from normal night-time temperatures over the past two days. Erode recorded 4.9°C above normal on Tuesday and 3.7°C above normal on Wednesday. Chennai reported about a 1.5°C increase in night-time temperature over the past two days.Weather experts attributed the increase in night-time temperature to cloud movement. “Rains in southern districts and Western Ghats have led to more clouds moving in. When there are clouds, the minimum temperature rises due to surface heat being trapped,” said an India Meteorological Department official.Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation anticipates power demand to surge by 7% from the end of March to April, owing to assembly polls and industrial growth, and signed deals to ensure uninterrupted power supply.
