Ye Yunshi has been known to rouse his workers out of bed in the middle of the night during the dead of winter to meet urgent orders from the US for his company's printed circuit boards. So when his plant in Nanjing city suddenly turns dark because of a power cut, his company's razor-thin profit margins are at stake. 'We are really suffering. We just have to wait for the electricity to go back on. We can't move because the Yangtze River Delta is all the same,' says Mr Ye, general manager of the Nanjing plant of Elec & Eltek International Holdings. Originally described by government officials as a summer phenomenon, blackouts and power shortages have dragged into winter, threatening the rapid economic growth of eastern China and making the region less attractive to foreign investors. More than half the nation is suffering from electricity shortages because of poor planning and unexpectedly high consumption, showing the strains of rapid economic growth. In Jiangsu province, near Shanghai, officials said the power shortfall would last for at least two more years. 'We don't want to blame anyone for this problem. The estimates for economic development were too low. We will solve this problem in 2005,' Jiangsu party secretary Li Yuanchao said. In classic state planning, the mainland has responded to the crisis by ordering the rapid construction of more power plants and rationing electricity for industrial users. The central government also announced it would allow an increase in power tariffs from January 1 to make up for rising coal prices. Jiangsu planned to add 10 million kilowatts to its generating capacity of 20 million kilowatts by 2005, officials said. But many of the new plants will be coal fired, which are polluting and impractical for peak use. Coal now accounts for about 70 per cent of the country's energy needs. Chen Dafu, vice-director of the planning bureau in Zhenjiang city outside Nanjing, said gaining approval for new power plants had become difficult because of concerns over fuel supply. Coal supplies are tight and transport bottlenecks make delivery more difficult. 'It's difficult to apply for new power plants,' Mr Chen said. 'The electricity shortage will continue at least until the end of 2004.' Zhenjiang planned to spend 18 billion yuan on power projects, but the state had discouraged foreign participation in the sector, he said. Power generating and transmission companies are instead turning to the domestic bond market to raise funds for new projects. There are alternatives to coal. Nanjing is considering a natural gas-fired plant that would use fuel from the west-to-east pipeline, now under construction. Jiangsu is also nearing completion on the Tianwan nuclear power station, the nation's third, which uses Russian technology. In the meantime, companies in the Yangtze River Delta from Nanjing to Shanghai are facing limits on their power use. In Kunshan city, Hong Kong-funded Kingboard Laminates Co, another printed circuit board maker, has staggered working hours at its plant to use electricity at night during off-peak hours. But at least one company has figured out a solution to the problem. Zhenjiang city planning official