China’s Energy Crisis Deepens With Potentially Fatal Consequences

China’s Energy Crisis Deepens With Potentially Fatal Consequences

(Photo by Jeff Hutchens/Getty Images) China's multi-month energy crisis is deepening, with coal and natural gas prices now at record highs while temperatures are poised to plummet across the country. Emergency power rationing policies are still in effect, meaning that many households and factories alike could be left with intermittent power as winter sub-zero (Celsius) temperatures approach. Further supply chain shortages, inflation, and public discontent are on the horizon. Political fallout for the Chairman Xi is unclear. How did we get here? It is a perfect storm, literally. Flooding across China's key coal producing provinces, resurgent demand for Chinese goods in the wake of pandemic easing, conflicting CCP energy policies, and extreme market distortions, including power rationing and price controls, have all contributed to the energy shortage. Globally, intense weather events, production slowdowns, overreliance on green power production, and Russian opportunism have all exacerbated a tightening energy markets. Inside China's energy intensive economy, power rationing for factories and businesses is in effect for more than a dozen provinces, per mandate from Beijing. Some provinces have gone as far as ordering factories to halt all production for a few days each week. As early as May (though much much more severe