Venezuela bans billboard lighting during crisis
CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Venezuela has banned illuminated billboards as the country struggles with severe electricity shortages.
It's the latest measure aimed at reducing power consumption, which has become a top priority for President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez blames the shortages on a months-long drought attributed to changed weather patterns due to the El Nino phenomenon in the Pacific.
Water levels have fallen to critical lows behind the Guri Dam, which supplies roughly 70 percent of Venezuela's electricity.
Government opponents accuse Chavez of failing to invest enough in electrical projects to meet growing demand over the last decade.
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South Africa's Eskom could buy less power from wind farms during lockdown
JOHANNESBURG - South African state utility Eskom has told independent wind farms that it could buy less of their power in the coming days, as electricity demand has plummeted during a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
Eskom, which is mired in a financial crisis and has struggled to keep the lights on in the past year, said on Tuesday that power demand had dropped by more than 7,500 megawatts since the lockdown started on Friday and that it had taken offline some of its own generators.
The utility supplements its generating capacity, which is mainly derived from coal,…
