Lucknow, May 31 -- Rain and cooler weather across Uttar Pradesh have triggered a sharp fall in electricity demand, providing relief to consumers and power authorities after weeks of record-breaking summer loads. According to power system data, the state's peak demand on Friday was 24,719.86 MW at 9.54 pm, down significantly from the nearly 31,000 MW recorded during the recent heatwave. The minimum demand fell to 13,243.08 MW at 6.36 am, compared to around 24,000 MW in recent days. At 5.48 pm on Saturday, demand being met stood at 17,785 MW. State-owned generating stations contributed 10,831 MW, including 4,370 MW from UPRVUNL thermal plants. Power officials said lower temperatures had reduced cooling-related consumption, easing stress on generation, transmission and distribution networks. "During low daytime demand, we are even resorting to thermal backing," an official said. However, officials noted that part of the decline could also be due to outages caused by storm-related damage to distribution networks in several districts. The weather is also expected to benefit farmers preparing paddy nurseries and undertaking pre-kharif operations, potentially reducing agricultural power consumption and helping maintain a comfortable supply-demand balance in the coming days. After nearly two weeks of erratic supply and prolonged outages, residents in several of Lucknow's worst-affected localities have reported a marked improvement in electricity supply over the past two days. Areas such as Dubagga, Faizullaganj, Chinhat and Kamta have seen a significant reduction in long-duration outages, though brief interruptions continue in some places. Power officials attributed the improvement to lower temperatures, which reduced electricity demand, and intensified repair work undertaken across the network. Chief engineer Sushil Garg, who oversees the Gomtinagar, Indiranagar and Chinhat zones, said lower demand had eased the load....