A significant power disruption struck Uttar Pradesh after nine power generation units with a combined capacity of 4,302 megawatts (MW) were shut down during the night of Monday, May 25, and early Tuesday, May 26. The outages affected several districts across the state, leading to emergency load management measures.
Technical Failures at Key Thermal Plants
According to the Uttar Pradesh State Load Dispatch Centre Ltd (UPSLDCL), the shutdowns occurred at thermal power stations in Rosa, Ghatampur, and Jawaharpur due to a series of technical failures. At the Rosa thermal power plant, all four units of 300 MW each tripped simultaneously at 9:57 pm on May 25 because of a blackout condition. While these units were restored between early morning and forenoon on Tuesday, the sudden outage impacted power availability in the state grid.
At the Ghatampur thermal power plant, Unit 1 of 660 MW shut down due to turbine vibration protection issues, while another 660 MW unit remained out from Sunday night to Tuesday night because of a technical emergency on the turbine side. The Jawaharpur thermal power plant also experienced repeated disruptions due to technical reasons.
Load Management and Restoration Efforts
The cascading shutdowns caused power outages across multiple regions, forcing authorities to implement emergency load management measures to stabilize the grid. Most generation units were revived by Tuesday morning, but three units remained shut as of Wednesday and are expected to be restored only by May 30 or 31. The latest outage report on Wednesday showed that four generation units with a combined capacity of 2,091 MW remained non-operational. These included Anpara Unit 2 of 210 MW, Ghatampur Unit 2 of 660 MW, and Jawaharpur Unit 2 of 660 MW, besides another temporary outage at Jawaharpur Unit 1 of 660 MW, which was restored on Wednesday morning.
Power Demand and Supply Dynamics
UPSLDCL data revealed that Uttar Pradesh registered a maximum demand of 30,853 MW on May 25, while demand on May 26 fell to 28,125 MW. The state had recorded the month's highest demand of 31,824 MW on May 24. Responding to queries about the shutdown, UPPCL chairman Ashish Kumar Goel stated that most of the affected generation units were not owned by the state government or UPPCL. “Apart from Jawaharpur, the other thermal stations are operated by private companies or central utilities,” he said.
Goel explained that tripping of thermal units is a normal occurrence because thermal plants are highly complex systems, where even a minor deviation from operating parameters can trigger an automatic shutdown as a safety measure. On the extended outage at Jawaharpur, where Unit 2 is reportedly expected to remain shut until May 31, Goel said restoration of a thermal unit can sometimes take one or two days depending on the technical issue. He maintained that the overall power supply would remain stable.
Demand Decline and Weather Factors
Addressing questions about the sharp fall in peak demand from 30,853 MW to 28,125 MW, Goel claimed that the demand itself declined due to multiple weather-related factors. He said around 8-9% of substations were affected during a storm, leading to a corresponding reduction in demand. “Power demand patterns cannot be viewed in black and white because each day is different,” he said.
Concerns Over Installed Capacity
Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman and Central Advisory Committee member Avadhesh Kumar Verma highlighted that Uttar Pradesh lags in installed power generation capacity. “Uttar Pradesh has around 3.73 crore electricity consumers, the highest in India, yet it ranks fifth among top power producing states,” he said. As of April 30, 2026, Gujarat tops the list with 73,627.91 MW installed capacity, followed by Rajasthan (61,381.28 MW), Maharashtra (59,979.65 MW), Tamil Nadu (47,989.37 MW), and Uttar Pradesh (39,034.67 MW). India's total installed capacity stands at 5,37,264.41 MW.
