May Rains Ease Load on Gurugram's Power Grid

In a rare departure from the seasonal trend, Gurugram witnessed a significant drop in peak power load in May 2025 due to unseasonal and frequent rainfall, coupled with thunderstorms that prevented the onset of a heatwave, officials from the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) said on Saturday.

- Debashish Karmakar

GURUGRAM:

Against an expected rise, the city's peak load dipped to 2,075 megawatts (MW) in May this year, a 260 MW drop compared to the 2,335 MW recorded during the same month in 2024—the highest the year had registered.

"This is a rare instance. The drop happened due to frequent rainfall and thunderstorms which kept temperatures from consistently rising, avoiding a typical summer heatwave," said Shyambir Saini, superintendent engineer, DHBVN, Circle-I.

"Though the temperature was high on some days, it dropped periodically due to weather changes," Saini added.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Gurugram recorded 87.3 mm of rainfall in May 2025—290% higher than the monthly normal of 22.4 mm. IMD officials said this unseasonal precipitation significantly lowered maximum temperatures and led to the absence of heatwave conditions in the district.

The load drop is all the more striking given that May typically marks the power demand peak in Gurugram. "Usually, we see a 7-10% increase in peak load each year, and our preparations are based on that pattern," said another senior DHBVN official.