The Omar Abdullah-led government is facing intense public fury over a Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) proposal to slap a 20 per cent surcharge on electricity consumed during peak winter hours across the Valley. The plan, submitted to the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), would raise bills for power used between 6–10 am and 5–10 pm—the coldest parts of the day when heating and lighting needs are highest.

The timing could not be worse for the National Conference, still reeling from its stunning defeat in the Budgam assembly by-election last month. The party lost its safest stronghold—a seat it had held uninterrupted since 1977—with voters citing prolonged power cuts, forced smart-meter installations, and the government’s failure to deliver its election promise of 200 free units of electricity per month as decisive factors.

Opposition leaders have pounced on the issue. PDP MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para called electricity a “lifeline” in Kashmir and labelled any peak-hour penalty “cruel and catastrophic” for struggling families. Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari termed it a “grave injustice”, while People’s Conference leader Imran Ansari mocked the NC’s pre-poll pledge, saying Kashmiris were getting a “20 percent extra charge instead of 200 units free”.

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Residents are equally livid. “We shiver in darkness, and now they want to punish us for using power when we need it most,” said Abdul Samad, a retired government employee from Srinagar. Social media platforms are flooded with protests, with many threatening street agitation if the proposal is not withdrawn immediately.

Senior NC leader and MLA Tanvir Sadiq, seen as close to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, rushed to contain the damage on Friday, declaring that the government “will never allow an unfair or ill-timed burden” on consumers and that power remains a necessity, not a luxury, in the Valley’s harsh winter.

With the Power Development Department directly under the Chief Minister’s portfolio and public anger still raw from Budgam, the controversy risks snowballing into a major political crisis. Sources say the Omar Abdullah administration is under pressure to formally reject the KPDCL proposal before the JERC finalises the winter tariff order, expected within weeks.

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