Bhubaneswar: Apprehending the possible disruption in power supply due to collapse of grid on Sunday evening when people respond to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to switch off lights and ignite lamps, the Odisha government on Saturday evening appealed the public to not to switch off their main supply at feeder and running appliances.
“Do not switch off/on all lights at once. It may be done in a staggered manner,” the state Energy department said in a public appeal, while referring to the PM’s appeal to the people to voluntarily switch off lights in their residences during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown for 9 minutes at 9 pm on Sunday.
Appealing the people to adhere to certain measures for “smooth and reliable operation and safety of the power system during this period”, the Energy department said: “Residential housing society/ residential apartments are requested not to switch off/on their main supply at feeder/ main level for sudden decrease and increase of load during 9 pm and 9.09 pm respectively.”
It further said, “Running appliances (fan, refrigerator, AC etc) should not be switched off during this period.”
Energy sector sources said because of the lockdown all industrial and commercial loads are already off and there is only domestic load and essential services load on the grid. “Since, the active (present) lighting load is less than 40% of the total load, the sudden and simultaneous switching-off of all the lights on the grid may lead to power collapse (due to sudden drop of huge load),” a senior electrical engineer, preferring anonymity, told Odisha Bytes. “If the grid gets collapsed, all hospitals which are treating the patients may lose their critical power supply,” he warned.
