North Pyongan province announced it will temporarily cut electricity to households for two months to supply more power to farms during the busy agricultural season.
A North Pyongan source told Daily NK recently that the provincial people’s committee informed local residents through neighborhood meetings in mid-May that residential electricity would be diverted to farms until early June for spring farming.
“They said cutting power to homes during the spring farming support period is inevitable to supply sufficient electricity to agricultural regions including Changseong, Byeokdong and Sakju counties,” the source said.
Provincial authorities explained that electricity is needed to operate water pumps for irrigating rice paddies ahead of transplanting season. They stressed that both urban electricity and power previously used privately in rural areas must be redirected to operate the pumps.
While apologizing for the complete power cut, authorities said electricity bills will still be collected as usual due to difficult national circumstances. They asked local residents to consider it supporting the country and comply.
People responded coldly, questioning when the state ever provided electricity to begin with.
“People are asking what electricity there is to redirect when households barely receive any power already,” the source said. “They complain that convening neighborhood meetings to announce power cuts is pointless since residents already generate their own electricity.”
Particularly irritating to local residents was the demand to pay electricity bills despite no service.
People expressed frustration, saying, “We’ve always paid our bills, even when we only received an hour of power each day. Now they’re claiming they’ll charge fees even when there’s no supply at all!”
The source added that after the meetings, some people went home commenting, “China has lights on all night while we worry about rain affecting our solar panel charging, though we’re separated by just one river.”
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