Residents of key sectors in Noida will face a 14-hour power outage on Saturday (November 16) due to critical maintenance work planned at the 33/11 kV substation in Sector 124, Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran officials said on Friday Nigam Limited (PVVNL).

The disruptions will affect sectors 94, 95, 124, 125 and 126, as well as the Raipur region, for 14 hours, from 10 a.m. to midnight. The maintenance is part of the UPPCL Business Plan 2024-2025, which focuses on improving power infrastructure and ensuring reliable supply, PVVNL officials said.

They said the aged and damaged 11kV incoming and outgoing VCB panels of Sector 124 substation will be replaced during maintenance work.

“The maintenance work at the Sector 124 substation is part of our broader efforts to modernize the aging infrastructure and improve the reliability of power supply in Noida. The existing 11kV VCB (vacuum circuit breaker) panels have been in service for years and need to be replaced to avoid potential breakdowns. We urge consumers to plan their activities accordingly on Saturday and contact our helpline 1912 if they need any assistance,” said Harish Bansal, Chief Engineer, PVVNL Noida.

This prolonged outage is expected to cause major inconvenience to households that rely on uninterrupted power supply for their daily operations. “A full-day outage is a challenge, especially for those working from home. This will affect our daily chores,” said Pramod Kumar, a resident of Sector 126.

According to the Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Associations (FONRWA), the sectors expected to experience the outage mainly include residential establishments.

“We have been constantly engaging with the discom to resolve issues faced by various sectors in Noida, and progress is being made. However, such prolonged outages should be avoided and the discom should consider scheduling maintenance in shifts to minimize disruptions,” said KK Jain, general secretary, FONRWA.

“With Grap Stage 3 coming into effect, the use of DG sets is prohibited to control air pollution, leaving residents with limited alternatives during the outage. This situation is likely to cause significant inconvenience to residents,” he said.

“The complexity and scale of this work requires a continuous power cut for safety and efficiency reasons and we have scheduled this operation over the weekend to minimize inconvenience to residents. Once completed, this upgrade will significantly improve supply,” said the chief engineer.

Additionally, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has announced that its consumer portal (uppclonline.com) will also undergo technical upgrades over this weekend. Online services such as bill payment, smart meter top-up, automatic bill generation and load enhancement requests will be unavailable from 10 p.m. on November 16 to 4 a.m. on November 17, making it even worse inconvenience for consumers.