Used of electricity in Manipur begins with commissioning of two micro hydel generating sets having capacities of 100 KW and 56 KW by the then Manipur Hydro Electric Board at Leimakhong in1930. The Royal Palace and main areas of Imphal Town enjoyed Electricity generated from this captive Hydel Station. During the World War-II, two more Diesel Generating Sets of 62 KW and 46 KW capacities were installed at the old Imphal Power House by the Armed Forces for electrification of Imphal town and its suburbs. The demand had been growing rapidly envisaging more social acceptance and the gradual promotion of awareness of the people towards the use of electricity for different purposes. This had necessitated further addition in the generation capacity and it was accomplished with the installation of a few more Diesel Generating Sets of various capacities in and around Imphal. The 11 KV line of 20 Kms. length between Imphal & Leimakhong was constructed for the first time in Manipur in 1930. The State was then having 26 Kms. of 11 KV lines and 45 Kms. of domestic LT lines to serve very few consumers in 7-villages/Leikais. Both the line and generating stations were owned by the then Manipur HE Board, constituted under the ex-officio Chairmanship of the Political Agent. Electricity was kept under the administrative control of the Public Works Department, Government of Manipur. The Electrical Wing/Circle was separated from the State PWD in February 1970 and since then it started functioning as Electricity Department. At present, out of a total installed capacity of 2054 Mw in NE-Region, 182 Mw is currently being allocated to Manipur State (about 8.88%) of which 99 Mw is from Hydel projects and 83 Mw is from Thermal projects. The requirement of power in the state for the year 2015-16 was 1129 MU. But the actual availability of power in the state is 1071 MU. The gap between the Demand and Supply was bridged from Banked Energy and Trading of energy through Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). The per capita energy consumption of Manipur for the FY 2016-17 is 263 Kwh. Much below the all India per capita consumption
The installed Capacity of the state remained the same till the end of the first Five Year plan (1951-56) of the post-independence period. The second Five Year Plan (1956-61) however saw a significant change in the demand of power in the state. The demand had been growing rapidly envisaging more social acceptance and the gradual promotion of awareness of the people towards the use of electricity for different purposes. This had necessitated further addition in the generation capacity and it was accomplished with the installation of a few more Diesel Generating Sets of various capacities in and around Imphal.
The peak load demand of Manipur in 1971 was 3.6 MW only. The demand was met from the State’s own generating stations and power purchased from the neighbouring states/Electricity Board at the low voltage. The per capita consumption of energy was 4.84 KWh. The demand was kept suppressed due to lack of generation till the year 1980. The scenario was abruptly changed after the purchase of bulk power from Assam with the commissioning of 132 KV inter-state transmission line from Imphal to Dimapur and 6.3 MVA, 132/33 KV sub-station at Yurembam in December 1981. The situation was further alleviated with the commissioning of Loktak Hydro Electric Project having a capacity of 3x35 MW on 4th of August 1984.
During the years from 1984 to 1996, a number of Central Sector Power Projects, mostly hydel projects in the North Eastern Region were commissioned. The state was having adequate quantity of power during the rainy seasons from these projects. But the situation is different during the lean season of every year. To provide stable energy throughout the year, since 1996 onwards, Energy Allocations from CPSU Thermal Projects are sought after. Since 1996, from an unstable energy mix of Hydel 80% to Thermal 20%, Manipur has an improvement of 54% - Hydel to 46% - Thermal. At present, out of a total installed capacity of 2054MW in Central Sector Projects, 182MW is currently being allocated to Manipur (around 8.88% in average) of which 99MW is from Hydel Sources and 83MW is from Thermal Projects.
To meet the seasonal variation in Energy Demand and Supply in the State, many Short Term Open Access (STOA) Transactions are being planned and pursued every year. Client Memberships in Indian Energy Exchange and bi-lateral agreements are being undertaken to improve the power supply situation in the State.