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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Social instability fears over blackouts
Steam billows out of the cooling towers at a coal-fired power station in Nanjing in east China`s Jiangsu province yesterday. Global shoppers face possible shortages of smartphones and other goods ahead of Christmas after power cuts to meet government energy use targets forced Chinese factories to shut down and left some households in the dark. Photo: AP
/ Bloomberg
China’s energy crisis is beginning to hit people where they live, adding the risk of social instability to an economic slowdown and global supply chain disruptions.
Residents in several northern provinces have already been dealing with blackouts, while traffic lights being turned off are causing chaos on the roads in at least one major city.
Guangdong, a southern industrial hub with an economy bigger than Australia, is asking people to use natural light in homes and limit air-conditioner use after implementing big power cuts at factories.
The impact to people’s homes shows how quickly the power crisis is escalating, as China typically first asks large industrial users to curtail consumption when supply gets tight.
China is facing power issues on two fronts. Some provinces have ordered industrial cuts to meet emissions and energy intensity goals, while others are facing an actual lack of electricity as high coal and natural gas costs cause generators to slow output amid high demand.
The shortages would force companies to raise the prices of goods for Chinese consumers and quicken inflation, the People’s Daily said in an editorial published on Sunday.
This would bring unnecessary disorder to the economy and society, it said.
The provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang all experienced blackouts over the weekend, Caixin reported, with cuts to traffic lights wreaking havoc.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
