Punjab was among the first Indian states to electrify all its villages, which it did decades ahead of most of the country, on the back of the Bhakra system.
Its generation is now largely thermal, at Bathinda, Ropar, Lehra Mohabbat, Rajpura, Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal, with the hydel share falling as a proportion.
Agricultural power has been free since 1997 and is cross-subsidised from industrial and commercial consumers, which raises industrial tariffs and is one of the reasons manufacturing has moved to neighbouring states.
Peak demand comes in June and July, when the paddy transplanting season and the summer coincide, and the supply position in that window determines the state's whole power year.
The subsidy bill runs into many thousands of crores and, after salaries, interest and pensions, is one of the largest items in the state budget.
Every serious analysis of Punjab's finances, its water and its industry arrives at the same place, which is the agricultural power tariff, and no government has been able to touch it.
Punjab's demand peaks in June, when the paddy pumps and the coolers run together, and the utility buys expensive power in that window every year.
The thermal plants at Ropar, Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat were the state's own generation, and Bathinda's closure and the shift to private plants changed the supply mix.
The subsidy to agriculture and the cross-subsidy from industry are the whole of the utility's financial problem, and every government has inherited it and left it.