Posted: Aug 17, 2022 8:15 AM ET | Last Updated: 5 hours ago
The Associated Press
Factories in China's southwest have shut down and a city imposed rolling blackouts after reservoirs to generate hydropower ran low amid a worsening drought, adding to economic strains at a time when President Xi Jinping is trying to extend his hold on power.
Companies in Sichuan province, including makers of solar panels and cement, closed or reduced production after they were ordered to ration power for up to five days, according to news reports Wednesday. This came after reservoir levels fell and power demand for air conditioning surged in scorching temperatures.
... In Sichuan, which has 94 million people, water levels at hydropower reservoirs are down by as much as half this month, according to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economics and Information Technology.
The power company in Dazhou, a city in Sichuan with 3.4 million people, imposed 2 ½-hour power cuts this week and expanded that Wednesday to three hours, according to the Shanghai news outlet The Paper. The newspaper Securities Times said office buildings in Chengdu, the provincial capital, were told to shut off air conditioning.
The Associated Press
Factories in China's southwest have shut down and a city imposed rolling blackouts after reservoirs to generate hydropower ran low amid a worsening drought, adding to economic strains at a time when President Xi Jinping is trying to extend his hold on power.
Companies in Sichuan province, including makers of solar panels and cement, closed or reduced production after they were ordered to ration power for up to five days, according to news reports Wednesday. This came after reservoir levels fell and power demand for air conditioning surged in scorching temperatures.
... In Sichuan, which has 94 million people, water levels at hydropower reservoirs are down by as much as half this month, according to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economics and Information Technology.
The power company in Dazhou, a city in Sichuan with 3.4 million people, imposed 2 ½-hour power cuts this week and expanded that Wednesday to three hours, according to the Shanghai news outlet The Paper. The newspaper Securities Times said office buildings in Chengdu, the provincial capital, were told to shut off air conditioning.
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