Power bills may stay high as Aug consumption surges 15%

Power bills may stay high as Aug consumption surges 15% 

Venkadesan.S @timesofindia.com 07.09.2026

Chennai: Electricity bills are bound to be on the higher side this month for all consumers, with TNPDCL recording a 15% jump in electricity consumption in Aug, compared to the same period last year. The year-on-year growth was two percentage points higher than in July, when consumption increased 13% compared to July 2025. 

TNPDCL officials said power consumption has grown at 6% every year in the past, but this year has seen an unprecedented surge in electricity demand, crossing 10% during the peak of summer. “As the weather continues to be hot and sultry, power consumption continues to be high,” said an official. About 1.3 crore domestic consumers who fall in the July-Aug billing cycle may end up shelling out the same amount they paid in peak summer. TNPDCL has made arrangements to prevent inflated charges due to misreading of electricity meters. “Users of domestic services who have consumed more than 500 units in July and Aug have been separately categorised. If their bill for Sept or Oct is 20% higher than previous bills, the software will flag them for re-verification. If the reading was wrong, it will be corrected. If the charges were correct, they will be uploaded to generate a bill,” said officials.

Residents, however, said the problem lies in delayed meter reading. “For the past few billing cycles, assessors haven’t visited houses to read the meters, as the post remains vacant. We inform the assessor about our consumption on call,” said Niranjankumar, of Aminjikarai. President of TNPDCL Assessors Union, Kannan, said the number of assessors has dwindled to 1,500 against the sanctioned strength. “Re-inspection is an extra burden,” he said, blaming outsourced workers and non-cooperative consumers for inflated bills. C Selvaraj, a retired engineer from TNEB, said it does not make sense to compare consumption patterns of subsequent months. “They should compare consumption in corresponding months of previous years,” he said.