LUCKNOW, May 10 -- Claiming a "historic transformation" in the power sector, Uttar Pradesh energy minister AK Sharma on Saturday said the state was rapidly emerging as the country's new energy hub with a strong focus on green and renewable energy. Talking to media persons here, Sharma said UP had become the number one state in peak power demand supply and was moving steadily towards the goal of 24x7 uninterrupted supply. He said the state's thermal power generation capacity had nearly doubled from 5,160 MW in 2017 to 9,120 MW, while overall power availability had increased from 11,803 MW to 22,000 MW. "The peak power demand which averaged around 13,000 MW during earlier governments, had risen to nearly 30,000 MW in the last four years. Uttar Pradesh successfully met a record peak demand of 31,468 MW last year and supplied 29,475 MW on April 28 this year despite unseasonal rains," he added. Sharma said the number of electricity consumers in the state had increased 3.7 crore from 1.8 crore in 2017, with nearly 50 lakh new connections provided in the last four years. He also claimed major expansion in transmission and distribution infrastructure, including replacement of 30 lakh damaged poles, laying of over 1.65-lakh-km AB cables, and installation, replacement or upgradation of 10.71 lakh transformers. Highlighting renewable energy achievements, the minister said Uttar Pradesh ranked first in daily installations under the PM Surya Ghar Yojana in April 2026, while Lucknow emerged as the top-performing district in the country. He said the state had crossed 4 lakh rooftop solar installations with around 1,400 MW generation capacity and had reached third position nationally. Ayodhya, he added, had become the country's first Solar City. Sharma also said that Uttar Pradesh was leading the country in the bio-energy sector with 25 CBG plants producing 240 tonnes daily....