THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the rising heat of summer in the state for the last two months, the consumption of electricity in households has also increased sharply. The use of fans and air conditioners has also gone up considerably in most households in Kerala during the day and night hours.

Malayalis were in for a surprise to see their electricity bills. Though most of the consumers expected a higher-than-usual bill, it crossed all their expectations.

With the increase in consumption, there will be a change in the slab leading to a higher bill. Even commoners prefer to install air conditioners in their homes to beat the heat as many find it difficult to sleep even at night due to the heat. Fans are running non-stop leading to a sharp rise in the electricity bills.

If the houses have two air conditioners, the electricity bill usually starts from Rs 8000. Apart from this, the water bill is no different. People are struggling to make ends meet as a month's income and expenditure went out of sync with the doubling of the electricity bill. Due to the extreme heat, more than five thousand megawatts of electricity is used in the state every day during the peak time. Earlier the peak time was till 11 pm. Now the peak time is till 2:30 am.

At the same time, experts are of the opinion that if the electricity consumption is reduced a little so that the slab is not changed, the current bill can be reduced.