China is facing the worst electricity shortage since the 1980s this summer, state media yesterday quoted a top power industry official as saying.
A gap of some 30 million kilowatts is likely between electricity supply and demand this summer, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Zhao Xizheng (
PHOTO: EPA
But the energy shortage may bring unexpected benefits to the labor force, as the main power distributor suggests going to work later in the day during the hot summer months, Zhao said.
If some companies allow their workers to sleep late, power bottlenecks during peak hours can be avoided, he added.
Zhao also proposed taking a weekly day off between Monday and Friday, although he was not talking about a freebie, as workers would then have to work on the weekend instead.
Rapid development of power-intensive machinery, auto and steel industries, urbanization and low energy efficiency are the main factors behind the forecast energy gap, said Xu Dingming, a leading government energy official.
Local residents were recently urged to stop wearing business suits and other formal attire to save on air conditioning, which sucks up 40 percent of electricity consumption in places like Beijing in the sizzling summer months.
Restrictions on usage or power stoppages were imposed in 24 of China's 31 provinces in recent months, the agency said.
In an effort to encourage lower electricity usage, the government on Wednesday approved price
increases averaging 0.022 yuan (US$0.27) per kilowatt hour for many areas of China.
The national average price was about 0.5 yuan per kilowatt hour before the rise.
The new prices will apply to households and industries in northern, eastern, southern and central regions, and could be followed by similar increases in northeastern and northwestern China, the agency said.
"Most urgent among all of the economic objectives is to cool down the industries which use a lot of electricity," Zhang Jianyu, an expert from Beijing's Tsinghua University, was quoted as saying.
Investment in steel, aluminium and cement production has soared this year despite efforts to discourage further investment.
"This will be a continuing effort to address the problem of over-investment in some sectors," Zhang said.
Grid providers are also trying to recoup money after spending more than 700 billion yuan (US$84.3 billion) on national networks since 1998, the agency said.
Agriculture and fertilizer production will be exempt from the price rises, it said.
Nine provinces and municipalities, including Beijing and Shanghai, plan to introduce different seasonal electricity prices.
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