True.

Most people are confusing “power surplus” by countering with “but I still see power cuts”.

Distribution and how a state manages demand and supply also is a huge reason as to how and why power cuts happen.

Only recently did all of India get connected to the national grid.

Once distribution capacity is up, then it is possible to have 24x7 uninterrupted power. Even then, a state’s ability to manage the demand and supply can mean power cuts (e.g., Enron blacking out California even though rest of the equation was all set)

This is a great point. Sufficient generation and robust distribution are two orthogonal questions, and 24x7 universal electricity requires both.

>>India is a power surplus country now.

In summer. Bangalore sees 2 - 4 hours of rolling power cuts due to shortage. Your friend needs to supply his secret power surplus into the grid for the benefit of all of us.

Even beside economic and pricing issues that can eat away at percents, a perfectly managed system could have surplus 20 hours of the day and a deficit 4 hours a day. You need significant excess power to avoid blackouts in a world without very cheap batteries.

That is the very definition of shortage. We are sure not discussing things like peak load capacity here.

> We are sure not discussing things like peak load capacity here.

Right. I'm talking about how there can be an average surplus and also a peak shortage at the same time.

Articles talking about "power surplus" can't seem to decide if they mean average or peak, and I can't find an official definition of the term.

India is technically a power surplus country. The distribution is owned by the states, perhaps, you should question the Karnataka Govt.There is a mobile app where you can see the available power in India if the state can't meet needs, all they have to do is, buy power.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cxb.powera...

Sounds more like network over-loads and distribution issues than overall power shortages to me. Both result in power outages, yet are different fish to fry.