With temperatures soaring above 47 degrees Celsius in parts of Punjab and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an orange alert for severe heatwave conditions till May 25, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is facing an unprecedented spike in electricity demand across the state.

Punjab’s power demand touched a season-high 14,335 megawatts (MW) on Tuesday, surpassing last year’s corresponding figure of 14,026 MW recorded on the same date.

What has alarmed officials more is the sharp rise in demand within just five days. Punjab’s electricity demand stood at 10,982 MW on May 15 and surged to 14,335 MW by May 20—a massive jump of 3,353 MW, translating into an increase of over 30.5 per cent in merely five days.

The demand trajectory has remained steep throughout the period. After recording 10,982 MW on May 15, demand climbed to 12,604 MW on May 16, remained at 12,462 MW on May 17, then sharply rose to 13,712 MW on May 18, 14,054 MW on May 19 and finally peaked at 14,335 MW on May 20.

Officials said the demand is expected to rise further in the coming days amid continuing heatwave conditions and increasing use of cooling appliances.

PSPCL officials maintained that there are no official power shutdowns as of now, though trippings and unscheduled cuts are being reported from several areas due to overloading, local faults and gusty winds. Field staff are reportedly working to attend to complaints and restore supply in affected areas.

According to official data, PSPCL has an overall thermal generation capacity of around 5,680 MW, including state-owned thermal plants and independent power projects. However, actual in-house generation on Tuesday was only around 4,000 MW, forcing the utility to procure nearly 10,384 MW from external sources to bridge the widening demand-supply gap.

“PSPCL is thus largely surviving on purchasing power as the in-house generation is at a bare minimum—not even half of what the demand reaches in peak summer season—and the financial health of PSPCL is going from bad to worse each financial year,” said a PSPCL official on the condition of anonymity.

Pending subsidy dues near Rs 6,000 crore

Sources in the power utility claimed that the cumulative pending subsidy dues from the Punjab government have touched nearly Rs 6,000 crore.

Officials pointed out that PSPCL continues to bear the financial burden of free power supplied to the agriculture sector as well as the state government’s scheme of providing 600 units of free electricity bimonthly to domestic consumers.

“The government advertises the domestic free power scheme extensively and the chief minister also highlights it frequently in speeches, but the subsidy payments to PSPCL are not being cleared on time,” an official said.

The sharp increase in power demand this year has also outpaced last year’s trend. In May 2025, demand stood at 11,329 MW on May 15 and 12,072 MW on May 19 before jumping to 14,026 MW on May 20.

Similarly, in April, Punjab had already witnessed an early surge in demand, with consumption touching 12,130 MW on the 25th. In contrast, the peak demand in April last year remained below 12,000 MW, with the highest being 10,918 MW on April 28.

Punjab has been reeling under intense heat conditions over the past few days. According to weather data, Faridkot recorded the highest maximum temperature in the state at 47.3 degrees Celsius on May 19, followed by Bathinda at 45.9 degrees Celsius.

Power utility officials fear that the real challenge is yet to come. “If this is the condition ahead of the paddy season, when agriculture load is minimum, imagine the situation once paddy sowing starts from mid-June onwards,” said a PSPCL official.

Employees protest amid operational challenges

Amid the rising power demand, various power employees’ and pensioners’ unions have announced that they will resume their work-to-rule agitation from May 21, accusing PSPCL management of failing to implement agreements reached during a meeting held on April 30.

The protesting unions include PSEB Employees Joint Forum, Bijli Mulazam Ekta Manch Punjab, Association of Junior Engineers, and several pensioners’ bodies. Their demands include the implementation of PSPCL pay scales for employees recruited after July 17, 2020, grant of pay-band benefits to promoted employees, resolution of JE category issues, fresh recruitments, promotions across categories and regularisation-related benefits.

Under the work-to-rule protest, employees will perform duties strictly for their designated eight-hour shift, will not work overtime, and will not attend official calls after duty hours.

The unions have further announced a state-level protest outside Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Sangrur on May 24 and a complete two-day statewide strike on June 16 and 17.

Pensioners’ organisations will also court arrests outside deputy commissioners’ offices across the state, while black-flag protests against the power minister and PSPCL management officials will begin from June 1 during field visits.

Sources said the agitation could pose serious operational challenges for PSPCL at a time when power demand in Punjab is already witnessing a sharp rise due to severe heatwave conditions and that complaints are bound to increase. They added that over 5,000 outsourced field employees may become the only immediate support system to bridge the manpower gap during the work-to-rule agitation.