2 in 3 Indian households surveyed confirm facing power outages amidst heatwave and high temperatures

May 2nd, 2022, New Delhi: India is facing the worst power outages in more than 6 years amid heatwaves and soaring high temperatures across states and UTs. The Delhi government, a few days back, said that the growing power crisis amid coal shortage could lead to more power cuts impacting metro services and even hospitals. The high temperature in India’s national capital last week has been hovering between 42 to 46 degrees celsius. In Gujarat, too, the rise in temperatures has prompted the government to issue an advisory to hospitals to set up special wards for heat stroke and other heat-related diseases. Several states including Rajasthan, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh are also observing the worst power cuts amid surging power demands.

Taking cognisance of the issue, LocalCircles has conducted a survey to understand how are citizens across the country coping with the power outages amid soaring heatwave and temperatures. It also sought to know if they have any solutions to tackle the power outage in their household. The survey received 21,500 responses from citizens across 322 districts of India. 66% of the respondents were men while 34% were women. 42% of the citizens were from metros or tier 1 districts, 32% from tier 2 districts and 26% from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

2 in 3 households in India confirm facing power outages amidst heatwave and high temperatures; 1 in 3 are facing outages of over 2 hours or more each day

The first question in the survey asked citizens, “On average, how many hours of power outage (from the utility company) are you experiencing each day at your home?” In response, 34% of citizens said they are “Not facing any outage”. However 28% are facing power outage for “Up to 2 hours”, 18% said “2-4 hours”, 10% said “4-8 hours”, 2% said “8-12 hours” and another 2% said “12-24 hours”. 6% said “Don’t know because we have 24*7 power backup”. On an aggregate basis, 2 in 3 households in India confirmed facing power outages amidst heatwave and high temperatures; 1 in 3 are facing outages of over 2 hours or more each day. This question in the survey received 11,142 responses.

Only 12% households in India have 24*7 power backup, rest either have inverter device or have no back up at all

In India, one of the most common devices that middle class or lower middle-class homes have is an inverter which costs anywhere between INR 5,000-10,000 (USD 70-USD120) depending on back up hours and load. With this device, one can typically have a couple of bulbs and a fan working and are able to charge their phone. The following question in the survey asked citizens, “How are you coping with power outages amidst the heatwave and high temperatures?” In response, 33% said “Have not had any power outages in my area so far”. 12% said they “Have 24*7 power back up at home”, 41% said they “Have inverter/similar device at home and we use it during outages”, 2% “Don’t have any power back up device and use battery operated fans, oil lamps, candles, paper fans, etc. to deal with the outage”, and 12% said they “Don’t have any power back up device and we just live with the outage”. On an aggregate basis, only 12% households in India said that they have 24*7 power back up, rest either have an inverter device or have no back up at all”. This question received 10,505 responses.

In summary, 2 in 3 households in India via the LocalCircles survey confirmed facing power outages amidst heatwave and high temperatures and 1 in 3 of them confirmed facing outages of over 2 hours or more each day. The findings also suggest that only 12% of households in India have 24*7 power backup while rest either have an inverter device or have no back up at all. As the coal shortages impact supplies and rising demand due to heatwave impact leads to a surge in demand, chances are high that the average duration of outrage will rise in the coming month of May which is generally the peak summer month for almost all Indian states.