SHANGHAI — "China will force factories in the capital of a wealthy eastern province to shut for up to four days a week, the latest draconian measure aimed at alleviating a summer power shortfall estimated at 20,000 megawatts.
The city of Hangzhou — known along with nearby Suzhou as heaven on Earth — moved to its highest power alert on Tuesday, a power bureau official said. Hundreds of plants will grind to a halt up to four days a week to keep an overtaxed electricity grid from crashing.
Manufacturing-intensive Zhejiang province, a cradle of private enterprise and thus an important driver for the entire country, has been the worst-hit by a summer power crunch. Foreign and local firms alike in Hangzhou have been told to suspend output three days a week, while larger ones that operate around the clock must keep within agreed usage quotas. Some state-owned or private plants have been asked to shut down for four days a week, the official said. The cuts appeared to be indefinite.
Some local factories, resigned to heavy-handed measures, said they could take matters into their own hands in the long run. The city's leading steel maker, Hangzhou Iron & Steel (600126.SS), was scrambling to economize energy to meet targets but said it would invest in its own power sources for the future."
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