With sweltering heat gripping Tamil Nadu, the state's peak power demand crossed 19,000 Megawatt, the highest in recorded history. Tamil Nadu Energy Minister V Senthil Balaji tweeted that for the first time in the state's history, the maximum power consumption was 42.37 crore units on April 20. 

In Megawatt terms, the power demand touched 19,387 MW. This is the first time that the power demand crossed 19,000 MW since records have been maintained for this data. The minister said the demand was met without any power outage and termed this as an achievement by the state government.

The state's power demand has been hitting new highs this summer due to rising temperatures. The previous high daily consumption was 41.82 crore units or demand of 19,087 MW on April 19. On April 18, the state recorded 41.30 crore units or demand of 18,882 MW.

The minister said that the government has met the power demand without any interruption. The previous high was 40 crore units on April 10, 2023.

According to Rajesh Lakhani, chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco), the increase in power demand this year is the highest in the past 10 years.

The policy note of the Energy department for 2023-24 said that Tamil Nadu has the highest consumption of energy among the south Indian states. As Tamil Nadu is both industrialised and highly urbanised, it has fourth highest peak energy demand in the country.

The energy policy note also said that the summer peak demand in the state was expected to rise to the range of 18,300 MW and 18,500 MW. It also predicted a daily energy consumption of 390-395 million units in the period between April and May 2023.

In 2022, the daily peak demand was 17,563 MW and the maximum daily consumption was 388.078 million units on April 29, 2022.

The temperature in many parts of state has touched 40 degree Celsius and the India Meteorology Department has predicted summer showers between April 21-22.