Data provided by the Delhi Government's Power Department shows that though the peak demand has risen over the years, the consumption of energy in terms of million units per day has been more or less the same.

• Consumption of energy per day remains more or less same

• People take to energy-efficient devices

• `There are no free lunches any more'

"With more and more people being brought into the billing cycle and made to pay for the electricity they consume, energy consumption has been curtailed. People have become conscious that the more they consume the more they will have to pay. Also with distribution now in private hands, there are no free lunches any more," said a senior official of the Power Department.

The reduction in AT&C losses has also helped stem power consumption. "Consumers have been able to profit from the reduction in loss levels. While the power distribution companies continue to engage in load-shedding in theft-prone areas, consumers who pay their power bills are offered better services," said the official.

Referring to the increase in peak load, he said: "There are certain times in a day when the demand for power is more. The maximum power requirement of a system at that given time is peak demand. It is not the demand through the day."

Acknowledging that Delhiites have been judicious in using electricity, a senior NDPL official said: "Observing the consumption pattern between 2002-03 and 2006-07, we noted that it is more or less the same. In our areas we are close to consuming 6,000 million units per day and that has been so for some time now."

According to available statistics, AT&C losses in the NDPL area dipped from 47.79 per cent in 2002-03 to 23.52 per cent in 2007-08 and the energy consumption has ranged from 5,500 to 6,000 million units per day.

The consumption in the BYPL area has been 5,000 to 5,500 million units per day from 2003-04 to 2007-08 and the corresponding reduction in AT&C losses has been from 54.29 per cent to 34.11 per cent.

Similarly, consumption of power in the BRPL area has been 8,000 to 9,000 million units per day from 2003-04 and 2007-08 and the AT&C losses during this time have been brought down from 45.06 per cent to 31.13 per cent.