Yuyuan coin thieves, rubber egg yolks, Disneyland rides, endangered animal trackers, and peak power usage. Here's what happening around Shanghai: more ›

What can we say? We're only too glad they didn't decide to do this to home users instead: "For the first time this summer, Shanghai's power company cut supply to 1,435 industrial users in suburban Qingpu and Songjiang districts yesterday due to a serious shortfall in the areas, the Oriental Morning Post reported today... As the city tries to juggle a tight power supply with spikes in demand, industrial users will be required to close when a potential power shortage occurs, as households will get priority, according to the local power company. The recent scorching weather has imposed high pressure on the local power grid, as sweltering residents crank up their air conditioning." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

The Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company is urging Shanghai's shopping malls to close down when temperatures exceed 37 degrees Celsius this summer in an attempt to save power for use by residents. Power shortages in Shanghai could exceed 1 gigawatt, and this is the latest plan to keep outages under control. The power rationing plan was approved for 3,000 non-industrial users, although it remains "advisory and not compulsory." Unsurprisingly, some malls have already protested the closures and say they will not comply. Residents of the city are encouraged to set air conditioners no lower than 26 degrees Celsius (or in other words, yucky but livable) and large office buildings will be asked to shut off the AC for one hour on days where temperatures surpass 35 degrees. So far this plan sounds like a list of reasonable but toothless suggestions that will probably result in little or no actual compliance. more ›

Seriously, how are we possibly going to survive the heat with 1/28th less electricity for our air conditioners? "There could be more power shortages than expected in China's financial hub of Shanghai during the summer, data from the local power grid operator showed, as the country was expected to grapple with the worst power crunches in years. Given expected peak summer power load of 28 to 28.5 gigawatts (GW) and maximum available load of 27.4 GW, electricity shortfalls would amount to 0.6 to 1.1 GW, the Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company said in a report on its website on Tuesday. Severe droughts have cut down hydropower generation in Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing and some other Chinese provinces and power shortages have hit many of the regions." [Reuters] more ›

While countries around the world are scrambling for a major rethink of their nuclear power strategy, and in some cases shutting down their existing nuclear plants, China is bulldozing its way ahead with new nuke plants, the first of which is coming to Shandong, China this April! more ›

The first few photos above were taken during ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission experiments carried out at minus 20 degrees Celsius by the State Grid Electric Power Research Institute last Sunday. What is UHV power and why is China doing so much cool-looking science with it? Glad you asked. more ›

• Apparently, China's in the midst of a "golf boom," despite the percentage of our population who plays the game being negligible - and the fact that course construction has been officially banned since 2004, according to a story written by Shanghaiist founding editor Dan Washburn. Surprisingly, more than 400 new courses have popped up since then. Not so surprisingly, the government doesn't think twice about bulldozing multimillion dollar investments that are illegally built. [Slate]
• The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority has owned up to its bad RE: forced internment of Chinese immigrants by erecting a memorial to honor them. The chairman of the organization said he was "sorry the early immigrants [...] were denied their civil rights and denied a decent burial" but that he's "glad we're finally honoring them by righting the wrong." Well, half of the wrong, anyway. [The Los Angeles Times]
• In a surprising twist, it seems that China may end up the champion in one leg of its green energy marathon against the US: developing a "smart" power grid. China's advantages include a less-developed existing grid which is easier to modify without service interruptions and a strategery - less cute polar bears, more energy security - more aimed at winning the race than public support.[Solve Climate]

Maybe the wind chill factor was down, but we didn't actually notice that yesterday was apparently the coldest day Shanghai's experienced this winter. The power plants did though, as electricity consumption hit its all time peak of 20 million kilowatts. About 7,000 plants have been alerted to the potential of a power shortage today, with usage expected to reach 20.5 million KW (generally, power demand is highest the second day of a weather change, apparently). We're not sure if this was related, but our apartment lost power this morning. It sucked. The rest of you out there, please, for the grid's sake, put on an extra sweater rather than turning the heat up another degree... or something. more ›

No, it's not a mechanical rampage of social awkwardness - it's a conference and a cool sounding one at that - a grassroots meeting where artists, engineers, scientists, DIY enthusiasts (and you!) interact under the broad delineation of “people doing strange things with electricity.” more ›

Tony Cheng of Al-Jazeera visits an old woman in Tokay village in Xinjiang who is only now experiencing electricity in her home for the first time in her life, thanks to the new solar cells that have been installed in homes around the region. more ›

From CCTV:

Easing inflation over the last few months may be good news for China's power regulator. It's saying continued falls in the growth rate of the Consumer Price Index leaves ample room for hikes in the retail prices of electricity. more ›

Meanwhile, the Chinese have reduced exports by over eight percent, idled more than 60 coal plants and announced they will lower import tariffs on the commodity, all because of shortages. It’s more than foreign competition and transport prices the country has to worry about — energy supplies within the PRC are dwindling to dangerous lows. We in Shanghai got a taste of what such scarcity might mean when blackouts struck the scorched city earlier this month. more ›

Parts of Shanghai are experiencing blackouts today because sizzling temperatures have led to an exploding electricity demand and the city's power grid is, quite simply, unable to cope with everyone reaching for the a/c. A local power official tells Shanghai Daily that the city's power grid is fully loaded, all backup power generation systems are in use and blackouts may have to be introduced to help the city cope. This summer, the State Grid Corporation of China is already predicting a shortfall of up to 10 million kilowatts with an extended season of hot weather and rising coal costs. Blackout party, anyone? more ›

Effective today, China will raise gasoline and diesel fuel prices 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively, news that sent global oil prices down nearly US$5 a barrel. Electricity prices are also expected to rise sharply. Reuters offers a poorly displayed chart that shows China's domestic gasoline prices, fixed since November 1, have climbed 95 percent and diesel prices have more than doubled since 2003. Retail fuel prices in China are expected to increase to $3.05 per gallon for gas and $3.31 for diesel. Says the New York Times, "Costlier fuel and electricity could prompt businesses and individuals across China to use less of it, slowing somewhat China’s voracious increase in oil consumption in recent years as well as its steep rise in emissions of global warming gases." [Sources: AP, Reuters, LAT, NYT, CNN] more ›