As lights dim, Australia warns gas plant blast will hurt growth

Australia’s fourth largest city Perth began turning off the lights Tuesday to save energy after a huge gas plant blast which the government warned would hurt stellar economic growth.

Office buildings and shops turned off all but essential lighting, dimmed electric signs and mothballed some lifts following the explosion two weeks ago at the off-shore Varanus Island plant off Western Australia state.
The blast has disrupted gas supplies to customers and threatens the economic muscle of the state, which is the heart of the country’s booming mining and resources industry that is powering the national economy.

Perth’s skyscrapers, retailers, shopping centres and even the state parliament are trying to save energy, switching off some communal lighting and escalators while turning down heaters and air-conditioners.

“Measures include reducing lighting in shopping centres to a level which is not going to endanger people, that allows shopping centres still to function but saves energy,” Western Australia Premier Alan Carpenter told reporters.

Asia Times