India's power demand hits 256GW, 58 plants low on coal
India just saw power demand surge to 256 gigawatts in the first week of September 2026, leading to electricity shortages above 20 million units, especially in northern and western states.
A weak monsoon is partly to blame, since farmers are using more groundwater pumps and everyone's cranking up their air conditioners to deal with the heat.
This has left 58 thermal power plants running on worryingly low coal reserves.
Poor monsoon cuts hydroelectric output 14%
The poor monsoon didn't just dry up fields; it also caused a 14% drop in hydroelectric power and disrupted coal mining and transport.
By September 6, coal stocks at power plants were enough for barely over a week.
To help out, state-run miners have ramped up coal deliveries by train, but evening peak hours are still tough as solar energy drops off and the pressure on coal-fired plants spikes.