Punjab power crisis deepens as demand hits record 16,619 MW; Long cuts hit homes, farms and industry

Babushahi Bureau

Chandigarh, September 12, 2026: Punjab is facing a severe power shortage, with electricity demand touching a record 16,619 MW on Friday, leaving households, farmers and industries struggling with prolonged power cuts as several thermal and hydel units remain out of operation.

The shortage has affected not only industrial consumers but also ordinary households and rural areas, where residents have reported repeated and prolonged outages. Agriculture consumers are also receiving fewer hours of power, while industries have been asked to suspend operations during scheduled cuts.

On Friday, Punjab generated around 4,162 MW from its own sources and drew 11,747 MW from the Northern Grid to meet demand. Around 1,915 MW of generation capacity has been affected by units that are currently shut.

Homes, villages and farmers bear the impact

The power shortage has disrupted daily life across several parts of Punjab. Rural areas have faced prolonged cuts, while consumers in urban areas have also reported repeated interruptions. District headquarters have faced several hours of outages, while agriculture consumers have reportedly received only around five to six hours of supply.

The shortage has also affected water supply in some areas, according to residents.

In Jalandhar, frustrated residents and industrialists blocked traffic at Sodal Chowk around 11:30 pm on Friday, protesting prolonged outages. Protesters alleged that the power cuts were affecting household life, drinking-water supply and industrial production.

The situation has also forced some farmers to rely on diesel-powered irrigation to protect paddy crops when electricity supply is unavailable, adding to their input costs.

Industry faces night-time restrictions

Industrial consumers are among the worst affected. PSPCL has imposed restrictions on Category-2 feeders, with the latest schedule requiring power supply to remain suspended from 4:30 pm to midnight — nearly seven-and-a-half hours.

A similar restriction was imposed on Friday, when Category-2 industrial feeders were switched off from 8 pm to 6 am.

The cuts have forced several industrial units to stop production during the scheduled outage period, while some businesses have reportedly turned to generators to keep operations running.

Several thermal and hydel units shut

The supply shortage has been aggravated by the shutdown of several generating units.At the Rajpura Thermal Power Plant, the 700-MW Unit-1 was shut following a technical fault, while its 700-MW Unit-2 was already non-operational.

The 660-MW Unit-2 at Talwandi Sabo Thermal Plant and the 210-MW Unit-6 at Ropar Thermal Plant are also out of operation.

Four hydel units at the Ranjit Sagar Dam and three UBDC units have also been affected. The Rajpura plant reportedly has around three days of coal stock, while Talwandi Sabo has around seven days’ stock.

Government: No coal or financial crisis

Punjab Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond has rejected claims that the state is facing either a coal shortage or a financial crisis.

Sond said Punjab’s current electricity demand was around 17,000 MW, with a shortage of about 2,500 MW. He said nearly 2,000 MW of the gap could be met through available resources, but the state needed another 1,000 MW from its central power allocation.

The minister said he had written to the Union Power Minister seeking Punjab’s “rightful share” of 1,000 MW.

Sond also said all 10 units currently being operated by the Punjab government — four at Lehra, four at Ropar and two at the Guru Amardas Thermal Plant — were running at full capacity.

He maintained that coal was being supplied from Punjab’s Pachhwara coal mine and said the state had around Rs 2,000 crore available to purchase electricity from private sources. The minister said the situation was expected to improve within two days.

Centre disputes coal shortage claim

The Centre, meanwhile, has rejected the claim that inadequate coal supplies to Punjab’s own thermal plants are responsible for the power crisis.

The Union Ministry of Coal said adequate coal had been made available to PSPCL plants and pointed to the low utilisation of some of the state’s generating units. This has created a clear difference between the explanations being offered by Punjab and the Centre over the role of coal availability in the current crisis.

Opposition attacks Mann government

Opposition parties have accused the Bhagwant Mann government of failing to manage Punjab’s power supply and questioned its earlier claims of providing uninterrupted electricity.

Shiromani Akali Dal leaders Bikram Singh Majithia and Sarabjeet Singh Jhinjer claimed that demand had crossed 16,000 MW while major units at Nabha and Talwandi Sabo remained shut.

They alleged that farmers were being forced to spend money on diesel to save their crops and that industries were suffering because of prolonged night-time power cuts.

Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi claimed that some villages were receiving only four to five hours of electricity and accused the AAP government of making false claims about 24-hour supply.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal also attacked the government over the power cuts and questioned its management of the state’s electricity sector.

Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa targeted the government’s earlier “Roshan Punjab” campaign, under which uninterrupted power supply had been promised, saying the current restrictions on industries were contrary to those assurances.

For consumers, the political blame game offers little relief as long as electricity supply remains disrupted.

The government says the immediate problem is the shortfall in available power and Punjab’s reduced access to its central allocation, while the Centre disputes the coal-shortage explanation. The opposition, meanwhile, has blamed the AAP government for poor power management and questioned its earlier promises.

With demand above 16,000 MW, several generating units shut and industrial and agricultural consumers facing restrictions, the immediate test for the government is whether it can restore stable supply and reduce the cuts faced by ordinary consumers.

Sond has said the situation is likely to ease within two days.