Beijing Braces for Power Crunch

Officials from the Beijing municipality said Tuesday almost 4,700 businesses will stagger weeklong shutdowns over the next month to ease an electricity crunch.

The State Electricity Dispatch Center predicted China will suffer its worst energy shortfall in 20 years this summer. Many cities have restricted power use by large consumers and ordered factories to stop work or introduce night shifts to cut electricity demand, Xinhua reported.

A spokesman with the Beijing municipal government told state-run media that workers from 962 Beijing-based industrial enterprises had started paid leave this week as the region enters the hottest time of the year.
UPI via The Washington Times