Scheduled maintenance, feeder losses, rising demand and an ageing distribution network are combining to make reliable electricity an everyday concern across the Valley
By: Javid Amin | 26 September 2026
Srinagar: The power problem in Kashmir is no longer simply about whether a consumer receives an electricity bill or how much that bill says.
It is about what happens after the bill is paid.
Across the Kashmir Valley, power interruptions have remained a recurring feature of daily life in September, with KPDCL issuing a long series of shutdown notices covering parts of Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and other areas.
Some of these outages are officially scheduled maintenance shutdowns. Others are connected to feeder-level curtailment, system constraints or interruptions that consumers describe as unscheduled.
The distinction matters.
But from inside a home, shop, classroom or workshop, the immediate result is often the same: the switch is turned on and nothing happens.
Recent government figures now put the scale of the underlying problem into sharper focus. Jammu and Kashmir recorded a peak electricity demand of 3,063 MW against available supply of 2,899 MW during 2026-27 up to July, leaving a 164 MW gap at peak demand. The government told the Legislative Assembly that this gap was managed through short-term arrangements.
Kashmir itself recorded a peak demand of 1,845 MW on May 27, while Jammu’s peak demand reached 1,623 MW on July 16.
The numbers explain part of the frustration.
They do not explain all of it.
Because Kashmir’s electricity problem is increasingly a story of demand, distribution losses, infrastructure constraints, maintenance requirements and financial stress all colliding at the same time.
The shutdown notices are real, and they stretch across the Valley
The latest KPDCL notices show that scheduled shutdowns have not been confined to one city or one district.
In Srinagar, shutdowns have affected areas linked to the Airforce, Wanganpora-Soura and other 33-kV lines. Parts of Sopore have also been placed under scheduled shutdowns, while the wider network around Ganderbal, Bandipora and north Kashmir has seen repeated maintenance-related interruptions.
South Kashmir has faced a similar pattern.
KPDCL notices have listed shutdowns affecting areas around Lassipora, Landoora, Kanipora, Pinjoora and other transmission and distribution lines. Some of these shutdowns extend over several dates, including September 20, 24, 28 and 30.
Earlier September notices covered areas around Kupwara, Ganderbal, Sonamarg, Budgam, Srinagar, Pampore and several south Kashmir locations.
That means the perception of a Valley-wide problem is not based solely on social media complaints.
There is a documented pattern of scheduled network work affecting different parts of Kashmir.
But scheduled maintenance is not, by itself, evidence of a failing power system.
In fact, maintenance is necessary precisely because an electricity network cannot operate reliably without repairing and upgrading its transmission and distribution infrastructure.
The bigger question is why consumers continue to experience interruptions beyond announced maintenance windows.
That is where the economics of the system become important.
The real pressure point: Kashmir is demanding more electricity
Kashmir’s electricity consumption has changed dramatically over the years.
Homes that once relied on electricity primarily for lighting now use refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, water pumps, computers, internet equipment, heating appliances and a growing range of electrical devices.
Commercial establishments have similarly become more electricity-dependent.
So has education.
So has healthcare.
So has tourism.
The result is a much larger and more complicated load on the distribution system.
The government’s latest figures show just how quickly peak demand can stretch the system.
At the Union Territory level, demand reached 3,063 MW, while available supply at that point was 2,899 MW. The government said short-term power arrangements were used to bridge the gap.
But purchasing additional power during a peak is only one part of the problem.
Electricity must also be transported through transmission lines, stepped down at substations and delivered through local feeders and transformers.
A household does not receive “megawatts”.
It receives electricity through a particular network.
If that network is overloaded, poorly configured or suffering high technical and commercial losses, additional electricity purchased from outside does not automatically solve the local outage problem.
Why a metered consumer can still face the same outage
This is perhaps the most misunderstood part of the current debate.
A metered connection does not create a private electricity line.
If a feeder supplying a locality is shut down for maintenance, consumers connected to that feeder can lose supply regardless of whether their individual connections are metered.
Likewise, if a transformer fails or a transmission line is taken offline, the outage affects the network connected to that equipment.
This is why the claim that metered consumers should automatically receive uninterrupted electricity needs to be treated carefully.
Metering primarily changes how consumption is measured and billed.
It does not make a consumer electrically independent of the feeder.
At the same time, metering does matter to the larger system.
The Union Ministry of Power told the Rajya Sabha in March 2026 that, according to the J&K government’s report, power cuts in the UT were driven primarily by transmission and distribution system constraints alongside unrestricted energy consumption in unmetered areas.
That is a crucial qualification.
Metering is therefore part of the solution, but it is not the whole solution.
The government’s own curtailment formula tells a different story
The latest Assembly response provides perhaps the clearest explanation of how scheduled load curtailment is currently being managed.
The Power Development Department said its Load Curtailment Programme is based on feeder loss levels.
Under the present structure:
- Feeders with losses below 15 per cent face no scheduled curtailment.
- Feeders with losses between 15 and 40 per cent face three hours of curtailment.
- Feeders with losses above 40 per cent can face six hours of curtailment.
The government has also said feeders suffering frequent interruptions, low voltage or inadequate supply are being monitored on the basis of performance, loading conditions, consumer complaints and field reports.
This changes the way the current Kashmir power debate should be understood.
The dividing line is not simply:
Metered versus non-metered.
It is increasingly:
Healthy feeder versus high-loss feeder.
That does not mean metering is irrelevant.
It means that consumers on the same problematic feeder can experience similar supply conditions even if their individual billing arrangements differ.
The uncomfortable issue of power losses
Electricity losses are among the biggest structural problems facing distribution companies.
Some losses are technical.
Electricity travelling through wires naturally loses energy. Old conductors, overloaded transformers and inefficient equipment can increase those losses.
Other losses are commercial.
They can arise from theft, unauthorised connections, inaccurate measurement, billing problems and poor collection.
The combined measure is generally reflected in Aggregate Technical and Commercial, or AT&C, losses.
High AT&C losses create a vicious circle.
The utility supplies electricity.
Not all of the energy supplied becomes billed and collected revenue.
The utility therefore has less money available to cover its power purchase and operational obligations.
Infrastructure remains under pressure.
Consumers continue demanding better supply.
And the utility requires greater subsidy or financial support.
J&K’s present numbers show the financial scale of that problem.
The government told the Assembly that outstanding electricity dues had reached ₹8,583.05 crore, including ₹4,385.41 crore owed by domestic consumers, ₹1,727.51 crore by commercial consumers and ₹2,470.13 crore by government departments.
Those arrears cannot be ignored in any serious discussion of electricity reliability.
Nor, however, can they be used to suggest that every consumer facing an outage is responsible for the system’s financial problems.
The two issues need to be kept separate.
Why consumers feel the contradiction
For many households, the electricity experience is becoming contradictory.
On one hand, metering is being promoted as a way to improve accountability, reduce losses and make consumption more transparent.
On the other, consumers who pay their bills can still experience outages caused by a feeder shutdown, maintenance work, system overload or broader supply constraints.
This creates a powerful perception:
“If I am paying for electricity, why am I still sitting in darkness?”
That is not an unreasonable question.
But the answer is more complicated than the billing category.
Electricity is a network service.
A paying customer can still lose supply when the infrastructure serving that customer is unavailable.
The real policy challenge is therefore not simply to install more meters.
It is to make the entire chain more reliable.
Thousands of infrastructure projects are underway, but consumers are waiting for the result
The government says substantial work is being undertaken to strengthen the electricity network.
During 2026-27, 1,831 transmission and distribution works were either ongoing or newly sanctioned, with 432 already completed, according to the Assembly response. The department said work includes replacement of old conductors, installation of aerial bundled cables, upgrading undersized lines, and replacing or augmenting overloaded transformers.
Additional receiving stations, transformers, high-tension and low-tension network upgrades and new grid infrastructure are also planned.
The government has set March 2028 as the target for completion of RDSS-related works.
This is significant investment.
But infrastructure announcements and electricity at the household socket are two different things.
A new receiving station may improve reliability once commissioned.
A replaced conductor may reduce technical losses.
An upgraded transformer may prevent repeated breakdowns.
Yet the consumer measures success in much simpler terms:
Was there electricity when it was needed?
Was the announced shutdown followed?
Was the interruption communicated?
Was supply restored on time?
And did the lights stay on afterward?
Maintenance itself has become a source of public frustration
KPDCL’s September notices demonstrate that maintenance activity is widespread.
A shutdown on a 33-kV line can affect several localities simultaneously.
In some cases, the announced window is six hours.
For example, notices in September have repeatedly listed shutdowns from approximately 8 am to 2 pm or 9 am to 3 pm in different parts of the Valley.
For a utility, those hours may represent a carefully planned maintenance window.
For a shopkeeper, they can represent half a working day.
For a student, an examination preparation session.
For a small clinic, a disruption to equipment.
For a household dependent on electric cooking or heating appliances, an additional inconvenience.
The economic cost is particularly visible for businesses.
The Kashmir Trade Alliance recently complained about unscheduled power cuts, saying interruptions were disrupting shops, markets and commercial establishments and adding to operating difficulties for traders. The organisation called for adherence to announced schedules and advance communication of unavoidable outages.
That complaint points to an important distinction.
Consumers can often plan around a known six-hour shutdown.
They cannot plan around an unpredictable six-hour shutdown.
Small businesses have fewer options than large companies
A large commercial establishment may have a generator, inverter system, battery backup or alternative energy arrangement.
A small shop may have none.
A bakery needs electricity for equipment.
A tailoring unit needs machines.
A computer centre needs computers and internet equipment.
A restaurant depends on refrigeration, lighting, ventilation and kitchen appliances.
A small workshop can lose productive hours every time the supply disappears.
The cost is therefore not simply the price of diesel used in a generator.
It is also lost working time.
For a business operating on thin margins, repeated interruptions can become an economic burden.
This is why reliable electricity should be viewed as part of infrastructure for economic growth, not merely as a household service.
Students are another invisible casualty
The power problem becomes particularly sensitive during examinations.
A student can adjust to a scheduled outage if the timing is known.
But frequent or unpredictable interruptions create a different problem.
Evening study is disrupted.
Online classes can stop.
Internet routers go down.
Laptops cannot be charged.
In homes without adequate backup, the options are limited.
For students preparing for competitive examinations, these interruptions can be more than an inconvenience.
They affect study schedules that are already built around limited time.
The same applies to professionals working from home.
As Kashmir’s economy becomes more digitally connected, electricity reliability becomes directly connected to productivity.
Healthcare cannot be treated like an ordinary consumer
Power reliability has a different meaning for healthcare facilities.
Hospitals generally have backup systems, which reduces the immediate risk created by grid interruptions.
But backup generation is not cost-free.
Diesel, maintenance, batteries and generator servicing all add to operating costs.
Smaller clinics, diagnostic centres and pharmacies may have less capacity to absorb repeated interruptions.
Even refrigeration-dependent medicines and other medical supplies require reliable power management.
The objective therefore should not merely be to ensure that major hospitals remain functional.
It should be to reduce the frequency with which backup systems have to become the first line of defence.
Kashmir’s power problem has a seasonal dimension
The Valley has historically faced particularly difficult electricity conditions during winter.
Heating demand rises.
Daylight hours shorten.
Households use more electrical appliances.
Demand can increase rapidly during cold spells.
The government itself has identified peak summer and winter periods as times requiring closer review of feeder performance and supply conditions.
The Assembly data also illustrates why winter preparedness matters.
In a separate response reported this week, the government indicated a much larger potential gap between J&K’s average winter demand and available power attributable to its own share of installed capacity. Reported figures put average winter demand at about 2,800 MW against actual availability of 501 MW, although this comparison concerns J&K’s share and should not be confused with total electricity procured or supplied to consumers.
That qualification is important.
The number does not mean Kashmir will literally receive only 501 MW this winter.
The system can and does purchase electricity from other sources.
But it illustrates the dependence of the UT on power procurement beyond its own generating share.
The subsidy question adds another layer
The electricity problem is not happening in a financially neutral environment.
J&K continues to provide substantial power subsidies.
The government recently told the Assembly that it expects to bear more than ₹4,500 crore in power subsidy, even after the latest tariff revision. The revised tariff came into effect on September 1, 2026, with the government estimating additional revenue of about ₹251 crore from the revision.
This creates another difficult balance.
Consumers want reliable electricity at affordable rates.
The distribution companies need enough revenue to purchase power, operate the network, maintain infrastructure and reduce losses.
The government wants to protect vulnerable consumers while limiting the financial burden on the public exchequer.
There is no simple answer.
If tariffs rise too sharply, household and business budgets suffer.
If tariffs remain too low without sufficient subsidy and collection, the distribution utility’s financial position becomes weaker.
If electricity theft and technical losses remain high, the cost of the system rises further.
The long-term solution therefore has to combine affordability, metering, collection efficiency, loss reduction, infrastructure investment and reliable supply.
The 200-unit free electricity promise is still tied to implementation
The political debate over electricity has also centred on the promise of 200 units of free power for eligible households.
The government has said the commitment for eligible Antyodaya Anna Yojana households is being pursued through a rooftop solar model under the PM Surya Ghar scheme, involving 2-kW rooftop systems. The benefit is expected to begin after the systems are commissioned.
This is worth distinguishing from the broader question of reliability.
Free or subsidised electricity can reduce a household’s bill.
It cannot, by itself, repair an overloaded feeder.
A consumer can have a zero or subsidised bill and still experience a power cut.
Affordability and reliability are separate policy objectives.
Kashmir needs both.
The meter is not the magic switch
The expansion of metering has been one of the most visible changes in Kashmir’s electricity system.
The stated logic is straightforward.
When consumption is measured accurately, consumers have a stronger incentive to conserve electricity and the utility can better track energy flows.
Smart meters can also enable more precise billing and monitoring.
But metering cannot substitute for infrastructure.
A smart meter attached to an overloaded transformer does not prevent the transformer from failing.
A digital billing system cannot repair a damaged 33-kV line.
A consumer who pays every rupee due cannot personally fix a feeder fault.
That is why the current power debate needs to move beyond the argument over meters.
The real test is whether metering is accompanied by measurable improvements in feeder performance and supply reliability.
What the ground picture actually suggests
The available evidence across the Valley points to several problems operating simultaneously.
First, there is genuine scheduled maintenance. KPDCL has issued repeated notices covering multiple districts and urban centres.
Second, demand has grown to levels that put pressure on available supply. Peak UT demand reached 3,063 MW against 2,899 MW of availability through July 2026.
Third, feeder losses are directly linked to scheduled curtailment. The government’s current formula provides for three hours of curtailment on feeders with 15-40 per cent losses and six hours where losses exceed 40 per cent.
Fourth, transmission and distribution infrastructure remains under active expansion and repair. More than 1,800 works are listed for 2026-27, with RDSS works targeted for completion by March 2028.
Fifth, the financial side remains strained. Outstanding power dues exceed ₹8,500 crore, while the government continues to provide thousands of crores in subsidy.
And finally, consumers are reporting a difference between announced and experienced supply, particularly when unscheduled cuts occur. The Kashmir Trade Alliance has publicly raised precisely this concern.
Together, these facts produce a more complicated picture than a simple “power crisis” headline.
The question consumers are asking is increasingly simple
Kashmir does not necessarily need another promise that the electricity system is being improved.
It needs to know when the improvement will become visible at the household level.
Consumers can understand that maintenance is necessary.
They can understand that electricity demand has increased.
They can understand that transformers fail and transmission lines need repairs.
What is harder to accept is uncertainty.
If a shutdown is planned, tell people.
If a feeder is going to face curtailment, publish the schedule.
If an emergency fault occurs, explain it.
If a scheduled interruption is extended, communicate the reason.
And if a locality repeatedly experiences low voltage or unexplained outages, the utility should be able to identify the feeder, identify the problem and publish the corrective action.
Transparency cannot generate electricity.
But it can rebuild trust.
Kashmir’s electricity challenge is bigger than metering
The most important finding from the current evidence is that metered and non-metered consumers cannot simply be treated as two separate groups when discussing reliability.
A feeder shutdown can affect both.
A transformer failure can affect both.
A transmission fault can affect both.
But the existence of common outages does not mean metering has no value.
Nor does it mean that unmetered consumption has no effect on the system.
The Ministry of Power has itself cited unrestricted consumption in unmetered areas alongside transmission and distribution constraints as factors behind power cuts in J&K.
The real challenge is therefore to make the different pieces work together.
More accurate metering.
Lower technical and commercial losses.
Stronger transformers.
Modernised feeders.
Adequate power procurement.
Better maintenance planning.
Transparent curtailment schedules.
Faster fault restoration.
And financially sustainable distribution companies.
Without that combination, Kashmir can continue installing meters while consumers continue asking why the lights are going out.
The winter test is already approaching
For Kashmir, the real examination of the power system will come when demand begins climbing again.
The Valley cannot afford a situation in which every increase in consumption automatically produces longer curtailment.
Nor can the system depend indefinitely on emergency power purchases and increasingly expensive backup arrangements.
The infrastructure projects now underway provide a roadmap, but their success will ultimately be judged through measurable outcomes.
Fewer outages.
Lower feeder losses.
Better voltage.
Shorter restoration times.
More accurate billing.
Higher collection efficiency.
And, most importantly, electricity that is available when people actually need it.
For the consumer, the debate is not ideological.
It is not about meters versus non-meters.
It is not even primarily about tariffs.
It comes down to a much more basic expectation:
When a family pays for electricity, it should be able to reasonably expect the electricity system to work.
Kashmir’s power story in 2026 is therefore not simply about darkness.
It is about the difficult transition from an electricity network under chronic pressure to one capable of supporting a modern economy.
The meters are being installed.
The lines are being upgraded.
The transformers are being strengthened.
The projects are on paper and, in many places, on the ground.
Now the Valley is waiting for the final measure of success: reliable power at the socket.
