Reply #10: Power rationing strikes China early

[xchrom]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/ME20Cb01.html

HONG KONG - China is suffering its worst power shortage in years, with the industrial centers of Guangdong and Zhejiang among 20 provinces and municipalities rationing electricity as economic expansion outpaces power supply. Businesses, including low-margin exporters, are having to resort where they can to expensive use of their own generators.

Rationing of electricity is not unusual in China as demand in the fast-growing economy outstrips demand, but this year shortages have began well ahead of the summer peak when blackouts usually occur.

Electricity consumption may increase 12% this year to 4.7 trillion kilowatt hours, the China Electricity Council says, after a 12.7% gain in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. Electricity


use in March alone rose 13.4% year on year, according to the National Energy Bureau.

Urban fixed-asset investment increased at around double that pace in the first quarter, surging 25%. Housing investment jumped 37.4%, official figures show.