(This story originally appeared in on Nov 17, 2015)

Incessant rains across South Karnataka over the last few days have proved to be a blessing in disguise, saving Rs 3 crore daily for the state exchequer.

The sudden drop in the demand for power, particularly in Bengaluru, while saving several crores to the exchequer, has also helped the government evade embarrassment due to erratic power cuts.

"Generally, the state government used to spend Rs 2-3 crore per day to buy power. But by deciding not to buy power now due to the fall in demand, that much money is being saved to the exchequer now," a senior official from the energy department told Bangalore Mirror.

Bengaluru, which was guzzling a lion's share of the power generated and purchased from the energy exchange, has witnessed a sudden drop in power consumption due to heavy rains and the chill weather.

The drop in the mercury levels has forced a much reduced consumption of power in the daytime - especially the cooling systems when the heat was on, putting a huge load on the power grid.

The Bangalore Electric Supply Company (Bescom), according to its managing director Pankaj Kumar Pandey, used to consume about 3,600 Mw on any given day until recently, forcing a shortage of 500-600 Mw. "The rains are a bonus to us considering our demand-supply situation. What used to be a shortage is taken care of by the sudden drop in the demand for 8power. The demand for power has come down from 3,600 Mw to 3,000 Mw and the supply has been steady at 3,000 Mw. So there is hardly any shortage. In fact there is no load shedding too in the Bescom area," he said.

The state government has directed not to buy any power from the exchange as there is no increased power demand across the state.

Complementing this is the fact that Tamil Nadu, due to heavy rains and its own fall in demand for power, has been surrendering its power quota supplied from central generating stations. "We have been getting the surrendered power at a very low rate, which suffices Karnataka's requirement currently," the official said. "In fact, for the last two-weeks, not a single unit of power has been purchased from the exchange."

Staring at a massive gap between demand and supply - with the former far outstripping the latter - during the last days of October, the government had announced buying short term power directly from the power exchange. Meantime, the industry too had begun exerting pressure on the state government for uninterrupted power supply.

This had put the state government in an unenvious spot, and in an embarrassing position, forcing the energy department officials to prepare to buy power from the exchange.

Consumption drops by 600 MW in bescom region

Bescom used to consume 3,600 Mw daily; Consumption has dropped to 3,000Mw; No shortage for now; No load shedding in Bescom area