Uttar Pradesh Power Crisis Deepens: Load‑Shedding Plan Fails, Public Suffers
Date: 6 July 2025 ·
Location: Azamgarh
By: Rajkumar Vishwakarma
Introduction: A State in Darkness and Disarray
Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, is witnessing a severe power crisis that has plunged both urban and rural communities into widespread distress. With temperatures soaring, demand for electricity has shattered previous records. Yet the state's load-shedding strategy—meant to ensure equitable power distribution—has completely failed.
The result? Prolonged outages, furious residents, crippled infrastructure, and an overburdened power distribution system. Across towns, villages and cities, daily life has ground to a halt as power cuts stretch for 6 to 12 hours or more. The summer of 2025 is fast becoming a nightmare for millions.
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| Uttar Pradesh Power Crisis - Google image |
1. Breaking Point: Power Demand at Historic Highs
Uttar Pradesh's electricity demand reached an unprecedented 31,347 megawatts (MW) in June 2025—a record for the state. This was a direct result of persistent heatwaves, with temperatures exceeding 45°C in several districts. For weeks, fans, air conditioners and coolers ran non-stop, pushing peak consumption well beyond UPPCL’s original forecasts.
State authorities had projected a peak of 28,000 MW, but even that was overshot by 10% as both domestic and commercial consumption skyrocketed. Electricity officials admitted that the grid wasn’t prepared for such a surge, especially in Tier‑2 and Tier‑3 towns.
2. Load‑Shedding Strategy in Shambles
To cope with the surge, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) implemented a load-shedding plan designed to reduce pressure by scheduling brief, rotational outages. The idea was to provide fair distribution of electricity without overwhelming any single region.
But this plan fell apart swiftly. Complaints flooded in from every corner of the state, citing erratic supply, unscheduled blackouts, and failure to restore power for hours. In many areas, instead of the promised 1–2 hour cuts, residents reported 8–10 hour long outages.
Experts attribute this failure to:
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Inaccurate forecasting.
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Overloaded transformers.
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Delayed repairs and response times.
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Lack of coordination between generation and distribution wings.
3. Rural Uttar Pradesh: Worst Hit by the Crisis
While cities like Lucknow, Kanpur and Noida received some semblance of supply during peak hours, rural regions have been left to fend for themselves. Villagers in districts such as Azamgarh , Mau, Balia, Ambedkar Nagar, Chitrakoot, Banda, Rae Bareli and Bahraich report power cuts of up to 15 hours daily.
In Bundelkhand’s Jhansi district, residents described living in "hellish" conditions, with night-time power cuts forcing families to sleep outside. “We go to nearby petrol pumps and ATMs just to cool down,” said Suraj Yadav, a resident of Jhansi. “Children are falling sick. Elderly people can’t survive this.”
Social media platforms are flooded with complaints and videos showing villagers protesting outside local power stations, demanding accountability.
4. Economic and Health Impacts: Daily Life Disrupted
The power crisis has unleashed a wave of economic loss and public health hazards:
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Small businesses, reliant on electricity for refrigeration, welding, tailoring and food processing, have seen production crash. Vendors have lost perishables. Ice factories have shut down.
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Hospitals and clinics are functioning on diesel generators. But fuel prices have surged, and not all rural clinics have backup support. Cases of heatstroke, dehydration, and respiratory illnesses are rising.
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Schools and coaching centres have had to cancel classes due to non-functional fans and lights.
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Digital connectivity—including mobile towers and broadband networks—has suffered severe disruptions, affecting remote workers, students, and emergency services.
“It’s not just power we are losing—it's time, health, education, money, and hope,” said Seema Tiwari, a school principal in Prayagraj.
5. Transformer Failures and Infrastructure Collapse
At the heart of the crisis lies Uttar Pradesh’s ageing infrastructure. Over 5,000 transformers across the state are reported to be operating beyond their rated capacity. Many have blown out or shut down due to overheating.
In Western UP, especially in the industrial belts of Meerut and Muzaffarnagar, residents blame poor-quality transformers and a lack of timely maintenance. Multiple videos posted online show transformers bursting into flames during peak load periods.
An internal audit by the UP Power Transmission Corporation revealed:
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Over 20% of the state’s transformers are outdated.
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Wires and poles are being used well past their designed life.
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Black marketing of copper wires and local corruption have further degraded the system.
6. Social Unrest: Protests, FIRs and Political Fallout
With no clear resolution in sight, frustration has turned into open protest. In districts like Jaunpur, Unnao and Fatehpur, villagers have surrounded substations, blocked highways, and even clashed with police.
In Jhansi, angry residents filed First Information Reports (FIRs) against local electricity officials for negligence. The matter is now before the State Human Rights Commission.
Opposition parties have seized the issue to attack the Yogi Adityanath-led government, accusing it of mishandling public utilities and prioritising privatisation over reliable service.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have called for a statewide protest on 10 July, demanding immediate resolution and government compensation to affected families and businesses.
7. Government Response: Emergency Meetings and Hollow Promises
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired multiple emergency meetings over the past week. Promises were made to:
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Deploy rapid-response transformer repair teams.
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Import electricity from neighbouring states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
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Set up war rooms to monitor real-time outages.
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Provide 24×7 helplines for public complaints.
However, ground realities remain unchanged. Officials blame the weather, surging demand and the “unexpected” stress on the system.
A senior UPPCL official, speaking anonymously, said: “There is no short-term fix. We’ve been under-funded and under-prepared for years. The system was destined to collapse.”
8. National Context: India’s Broader Electricity Challenges
Uttar Pradesh’s crisis is part of a larger national challenge. According to the Central Electricity Authority, India’s peak power demand could hit 315 GW by 2030. Current infrastructure is woefully underprepared for this.
Several states—Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar—have also reported stress on their grids. Experts call for:
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Battery storage solutions for renewable energy.
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Investment in smart grids with real-time monitoring.
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Decentralised solar installations to reduce central load.
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Policy reforms to empower discoms and consumers alike.
9. Experts Warn: Reforms Needed Now or Never
India Ratings and Research recently flagged UP’s power sector as being among the worst-managed in the country. According to their findings:
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UP discoms have the highest aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses—over 30%.
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Tariff gaps between cost and revenue are unmanageable.
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Political interference has derailed long-term planning.
Without urgent reforms, Uttar Pradesh could be headed for permanent power insecurity, warned energy policy expert Dr. Arun Mital. “This crisis is a preview of what 2030 will look like if we don’t act now.”
10. The Human Angle: Voices from the Ground
To understand the full weight of this crisis, here are some real voices:
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Rani Devi, a farmer in Rae Bareli: “I can’t run my pump. My crops are dying. Electricity comes at midnight and goes before dawn.”
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Mohammed Irfan, a cold storage operator in Aligarh: “We lost ₹3 lakh worth of fruit in 2 days. Who will pay?”
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Ritika Singh, a student from Lucknow: “I can’t study or attend online classes. My exams are in 2 weeks. I feel hopeless.”
These are not isolated incidents—they are representative of a statewide breakdown.
Conclusion: Powerless in 2025
As Uttar Pradesh staggers through the peak of summer 2025, it faces a daunting truth: electricity is no longer a guaranteed service. The failure of the load-shedding plan has laid bare systemic inefficiencies, political indifference, and infrastructural rot.
To restore public trust and economic stability, the state must go beyond patchwork solutions. It needs a massive overhaul of the grid, clear accountability, and community-inclusive planning. Otherwise, the darkness of today will become the permanent shadow of tomorrow