Pathein City, the capital of Ayeyarwady Region has only been receiving three hours of electricity a day in one hour blocks, since 31 December 2024, according to residents.
A 30-year-old resident of Kosukyaung Road in Pathein City said: “The unusually severe power outages began on New Year's Eve. At first, we thought it was a mechanical failure, but now, a week later, it's clear that the power supply has been reduced. It seems the people of Myanmar were greeted with a miserable situation in the New Year.”
A 50-year-old woman from Pathein's No. 1 Ward explained that because the electricity is only supplied in three one hour blocks throughout the day it is not even on for long enough for people to cook properly. Such an intermittent supply has forced the city’s residents to instead rely on firewood, charcoal, and gas for cooking.
A photocopier business owner said the daily 21-hour power outage has also severely impacted small and medium-sized businesses, causing many to shut down.
A source close to the Pathein Electricity Distribution Office explained that the reduced power supply was due to a decline in power generation capacity.
He said to NMG: “There has been a significant reduction in the power generation capacity of both hydropower and gas power plants. As a result, Pathein can only receive power for three hours a day for now. The generation capacity is unable to meet the power demand, and the situation is likely to worsen in the summer.”
Despite the reduction in electricity supply electricity bills have not been reduced, much to the frustration of the town's residents.
A Pathein City resident said: “Although the daily power supply has been drastically reduced, the monthly electricity bill has never visibly reduced. The meter boxes are installed on top of poles, so we can't check them ourselves. The bills always amount to hundreds of thousands of MMK each month. If you're dissatisfied and want to file a complaint, you have to pay 50,000 MMK to have the meter box taken down for inspection. Some people who found their bills higher than expected went to the electricity office, where they were told negotiations would be made to clarify the situation.”
In November 2024, the junta's Ministry of Electric Power acknowledged that the country's power generation capacity was less than 50 percent of the required amount at that time.
