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Static electricity

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Electricity is something we take for granted. It powers our computers and mobile phones. It transports us up and down and across town. It keeps our food fresh, our drinks cold and it keeps the concrete boxes we live in warm in winter and cool in summer. Without it, even for a short time, life in the city grinds to a halt, and soon becomes untenable.

Such was the case in the United States on August 14, 2003, when some trees interfered with some power lines in Ohio, triggering a power failure that cascaded throughout the eastern North American grid.

More than 50 million people in the US and Canada were affected as entire cities, including New York, were blacked out, in some cases for up to four days. Initial losses were said to be in excess of US$6 billion. Major events like this are few and far between, but they are illustrative of the reliance we have developed for this commodity. So it is not surprising then that when it comes to tinkering with the way electricity is generated and supplied in this most modern of cities, the government is fairly cautious.

Hong Kong has one of the most dependable electricity supplies in the world - within spitting distance of 100 per cent reliability. The government is now reviewing if, and by how much, the arrangements that helped bring this about should be changed.

Stage one of the public consultation ends this month.

Those arrangements, cemented through what are known as scheme of control agreements have been in place for 40 years and have seen the city's two power companies - CLP Power in Kowloon and the New Territories and Hongkong Electric on Hong Kong Island - develop their electricity network capacities along with the ever increasing demands of the city.

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