Patiala, Sept. 11 -- Persistently high temperatures amid a deficient monsoon and the ongoing paddy season have kept Punjab's power demand at near-peak summer levels even in September, with the daily demand remaining above 16,000 MW for the past several days.

The state's power demand touched 16,518 MW on Wednesday, against about 10,078 MW on the corresponding day last year, according to PSPCL officials. The demand has remained substantially higher than the corresponding period last year, when it was below 9,000 MW on several days.

Inadequate rainfall has increased farmers' dependence on tubewells for irrigation, while the persistent heat and humidity has pushed up domestic consumption of cooling appliances.

According to the latest IMD d...