South Africa's power crisis today forced the world's three largest gold mining companies to shut down their operations as the government called the rolling blackouts across the country a "national emergency" and threatened to ration electricity.
The South African government has told millions of people left in the dark by rolling power cuts that have swept the country over the past week, and which are likely to go on for years, to look on the bright side. The blackouts are the result of surging demand for power caused by a booming economy, it says. But as the lights go off more frequently and for longer periods, the national mood has darkened.
Demand for renewable energy is outstripping supply, pushing up prices and raising the specter that some states may not meet clean-energy mandates. Behind the shortage is the growing number of states requiring utilities to include clean energy in their power mix, as well as surging demand from big businesses.
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