• Burmese
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
28 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Rangoon Power Supplier Blames Rise in Blackouts on High Demand

San Yamin Aung by San Yamin Aung
May 11, 2015
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Rangoon Power Supplier Blames Rise in Blackouts on High Demand

A tangle of power lines hangs over a street in Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Rangoon residents have in recent weeks complained of frequent blackouts, a familiar problem that has nonetheless defied a pledge by the city’s electricity authority to provide 24-hour power to residents during the summer, when pre-monsoon season water levels dwindle and sap the nation’s hydroelectric dams of their generating capacity.

Ahead of the hot season, the municipal government power supplier said in January that it would be able to provide 24-hour electricity to residential areas since new natural gas turbines in four Rangoon townships and two additional turbines donated by Thailand would bolster the city’s electricity generating capacity.

The Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation (YESC) told The Irrawaddy last week that it had failed to fulfill its promise due to an unanticipated increase in demand.

RelatedPosts

Renowned Myanmar language teacher John Okell is still inspiring students, five decades on.

Love of the Lingo

August 5, 2020
10.2k
--

‘Secret Garden’ in Wa Special Region Leaves Much to the Imagination

February 27, 2020
8.5k
This Week in Parliament (August 8-12)

This Week in Parliament (August 8-12)

August 13, 2016
3.8k

“We are providing power from hydropower stations and natural gas turbines 24 hours a day, but the power cuts are because of high consumption,” said Yan Lin, chief engineer of YESC, formerly the Yangon Electricity Supply Board until it was renamed on April 1 ahead of a planned privatization later this year.

He said that normally, Rangoon uses about 890 megawatts of power daily, but consumption has increased to 1,095 megawatts during the summer months.

“Starting from March, the weather became hot and so people consumed more [electricity],” said Yan Lin, who is also a member of YESC’s interim board of directors. “They turn on air-cons [air conditioning units] and fans, pump water so they can take baths more frequently to lower their temperature.

“The loads from using air-cons are very high. Many people turn on air-cons the whole night and also, it was not easy to install air-cons in the past but now it is easy and almost every house has a refrigerator and air-con now,” Yan Lin added.

With demand compounded by dozens of ongoing constructions projects, the country’s biggest city currently accounts for more than half of the average daily power consumption nationwide, which is over 2,000 megawatts.

“We can’t say not to use more.,” Yan Lin said. “In general, the transformers can handle it but since consumption is up, the transformers can’t manage it and the fuses are blown, sometimes two or three times a day and we have keep swapping in new ones.”

Burma typically faces power shortfalls from March through May, when the country’s main source of electricity, hydropower, is reduced because less water flows to the dams. The commercial capital, which is home to the country’s major industries and around 5.7 million people, has suffered from chronic energy shortages further aggravated by growing demand.

A local resident from North Dagon Township said that beginning in mid-April, daily power cuts of at least an hour had become the norm, and even when electricity was available, appliances like her TV, air conditioner and refrigerator were functioning poorly in the evening because the voltage level was insufficient.

“Although the power outages are common, it is worse in the hot season. They have said that they would provide enough electricity but we still face the worst power shortages in the hot season,” she said.

Yan Lin, the YESC chief engineer, said the rise in electricity consumption and attendant increase in power cuts began before the Thingyan water festival. The city supplier was better able to meet demand over the mid-April holiday, when many offices were closed and factories shuttered. Post-Thingyan, the problem was exacerbated when inclement weather felled trees that temporarily disrupted transmission lines.

Aung Khaing, who is also a member of the YESC interim board, told state daily The Mirror on Monday that certain inevitabilities beyond the electricity supplier’s control were to blame for the frequent blackouts. He cited the aforementioned bad weather, the repair and maintenance of natural gas turbines and other disruptions like vehicles knocking down power lines.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: A_Factiva
San Yamin Aung

San Yamin Aung

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Inspiring Women of Burma  
Burma

Inspiring Women of Burma  

by The Irrawaddy
March 18, 2016
33.6k

The contributions of some of Burma’s leading female figures are highlighted in the final part of a series that ran...

Read moreDetails
Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’
Asia

Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’

by Saw Yan Naing
January 18, 2016
13.7k

Tasneem Roc, an Australian actress who also has ethnic Karen roots, speaks with The Irrawaddy about her career and her...

Read moreDetails
Burma’s Media Landscape Through the Years
Burma

Burma’s Media Landscape Through the Years

by The Irrawaddy
May 4, 2016
13.5k

In the wake of World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on Tuesday, The Irrawaddy revisits a history of Burmese media stretching...

Read moreDetails
Burmese Director Explores Same-Sex Relationships in New Film
Burma

Burmese Director Explores Same-Sex Relationships in New Film

by Yu Mon Kyaw
January 28, 2016
8.2k

Entitled ‘Gemini,’ Nyo Min Lwin’s film about romance between two men explores ground seldom trod in Burma’s movie industry.

Read moreDetails
Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace
Commentary

Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace

by Nyein Nyein
September 10, 2015
8.7k

Burmese generals’ edicts have often been intimately tied to numerology and astrology. Is the peace process similarly tied to superstitious...

Read moreDetails
Neruda’s Burmese Days
Culture

Neruda’s Burmese Days

by Seamus Martov
June 15, 2015
12.5k

The late Chilean poet Pablo Neruda found love and lasting inspiration in the colonial capital.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
NCCT Leader: Federalism Proposals Should Include Ethnic Army Guarantees

NCCT Leader: Federalism Proposals Should Include Ethnic Army Guarantees

KNU Leader Rapped for ‘No Transparency’ in Peace Process

KNU Leader Rapped for ‘No Transparency’ in Peace Process

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

6 days ago
1.3k
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

7 days ago
1.1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta’s ‘Living Fence’ on Thai Border Falls to Karen Resistance

    Myanmar Junta’s ‘Living Fence’ on Thai Border Falls to Karen Resistance

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Launches Space Agency With Russian Help

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Las Vegas in Laos’: the Riverside City Awash With Crime

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Invites Investment in Ruby and Mineral Towns Amid Myanmar Junta Onslaught

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Two Myanmar Migrants Still Languish in Thai Jail Over Min Aung Hlaing Protest

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.