Goodman's big bad bureaucracy spin is boring and pretty wrong. I thought it was pretty big news that China was going full-steam ahead with the liberalization and corporatization of the electricity industry in 2002 right after the CA crisis. But as usual, 'market intervention' is to blame.
The relationship with northern-produced coal is also very interesting. Not too long ago there were stories about coal shortage being the cause of the electricity shortage. (see http://www.chinastudygroup.org/index.php?type=news&id=3543) This seems to have prompted the government to reopen the hundreds of horrifically unsafe small mines that are the result of the deregulation of the coal industry.
(keep your eyes peeled for the film Blind Shaft, which I hear is depicts the mining conditions in small private mines in China pretty well - see review at http://film.guardian.co.uk/filmedinburgh2003/story/0,13776,1022632,00.html)
cheers,
Jonathan
At 09:11 AM 1/5/2004, you wrote:
China's Dark Days and Darker Nights Industrial Growth Exceeds Supply of Electrical Power By Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, January 5, 2004; Page A01
HANGZHOU, China -- In a country gaining dominance in the production of electronics, 9-year-old Sheng Minjie sat down one recent evening to do his math homework. First, though, he had to solve a physics equation: How many candles did he need to illuminate his work?
Like thousands of other households in this city on China's east coast, Sheng's family was without electricity, his apartment dark and cold. The city had cut the power to his neighborhood as part of a series of rolling blackouts imposed as China struggles to cope with power shortages afflicting much of the country. At one point last month, the city's traffic lights were turned off for two days. A ban on lighted advertising has created the peculiar spectacle of a Chinese metropolis largely devoid of flashing neon.
China's relentless industrial development has outstripped its supply of power. The government forecasts shortages of 10 to 15 percent in key manufacturing areas, estimating that China needs about $108 billion worth of new generating capacity to close the gap. Factories are now cutting production, while hotels and restaurants dim lights and switch off heat. Some worry that the scarcity could shackle enterprises that have become critical employers at a time when millions of government-supported jobs are being eliminated by the country's transition from Communism to the free market.
"These power shortages are extremely serious," said Scott Roberts, an analyst at Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Beijing. "In some areas they have been crippling for economic growth."
full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54689-2004Jan4.html
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