由于异常寒冷的天气，中国的电力供应体系再度被推到了悬崖边。从毛泽东时代延续下来的供电政策对打破困局无能为力。
China's power-supply system has been pushed to the brink again amid unusually cold weather. Holdover policies from China's Maoist past aren't helping.
能源业是中国为数不多几个仍保留着大量计划经济残余的行业之一。虽然中国大多数产品和服务的价格已经由市场来确定，但能源价格依然牢牢控制在政府手中。
China's energy sector remains one of the few industries where there are strong remnants of the old planned economy. While the prices of most things are set by the market, energy is still tightly controlled by the central government.
比如说，虽然煤炭价格已经放开，但国家却一直将电价保持在相对低的水平。这促使发电企业不愿花大钱保持煤炭的高库存。
For example, while coal prices have been liberalized, state-set electricity prices have been kept relatively low. That's discouraged power producers from keeping costly inventories of coal.
由于电煤库存水平低，中国规模庞大的电网常常无法顺利应对目前这种寒潮天气等突发性事件，从而迫使一些省份不得不对工业用户实施电力的定量配给，以确保家庭、医院和学校能有足够的取暖用电。
Low inventory levels have left China's huge sprawling power grid vulnerable to sudden shocks like the current cold snap, forcing some provinces to ration power to industrial users so there's enough to keep homes, hospitals and schools warm.
毛泽东时代的另一个后遗症是，自从上世纪50年代以来，中国南方的建筑就没有集中供暖设施，虽然南方的许多城市冬季气温都会降到零度以下。中国的南方和北方大体以长江为界。
Another chilling shadow of the past: Since the 1950s, there has been no central heating in southern China, roughly defined as below the Yangzte River--even though temperatures fall below freezing in plenty of southern cities.
50年代制定这一政策是为了省钱，因为当时冬季供暖是国家提供的一项福利。现在免费供暖的福利已经没有了，但南方建筑没有供暖设施的体制却保留了下来。
Back in the 50s, that was a money-saving move because the state provided heat as part of the iron wok welfare of communism. Free heating has ended, but the north-south divide is still in place.
中国最大电网运营商国家电网公司的发言人刘心放说，既然中国的富裕程度提高了，南方人也想暖暖和和过冬。由于指望不上集中供暖，南方人于是纷纷选择了电取暖方式，这就给电力供应造成了巨大压力。
Now that China is richer, southerners want to stay warm, too, says Liu Xinfang, a spokesman for State Grid Corp., the biggest electricity grid operator in China. Unable to rely on central heating, southerners are cranking up electric heaters instead--which is putting a huge strain on power supplies.
刘心放说，中国人的生活水平现在比以前高了，特别是在没有中央供暖设施的南方，越来越多的人正靠空调来取暖。一旦天气特别寒冷，这些地区的电力负荷就会急剧增加。(许多中国家庭的空调也能吹热风)。
'Nowadays, people's living standard are higher than before,' Liu says. 'Especially in southern China where there is no central heat, more and more people are relying on air-conditioners for heat. Once there is extreme cold weather, the electrical load in these regions rises sharply.' (Many Chinese homes have air conditioners that can also blow hot air.)
顺便说一句，即使是在中国北方，秋季何时供暖以及春季何时停止供暖也由政府决定。
By the way, even up north, the government determines when central heating gets turned on in the fall, and when it's shut off in the spring.
导致今年供电紧张的另一个原因是旱灾。华中地区发电量的约60%来自水电。但旱灾降低了江河水位，导致水力发电量下降，这就意味着需要增加火电供应。
Another reason for this year's jam is a drought. Central China relies on hydropower dams for about 60% of its electricity. But low water levels have meant more demand for coal.
不过也用不着同情那些可怜的南方人。近期的一项研究显示，北方新生婴儿的体重要低于南方，而这要归罪于北方燃煤取暖锅炉所造成的污染。初步研究发现，上世纪80年代北方出生的婴儿比南方出生的婴儿体重要轻，其原因就是燃煤取暖锅炉造成的污染。这种污染对婴儿造成的不利影响，大约相当于吸烟成瘾母亲对孩子不利影响的四分之一。
Meanwhile, don't pity the poor southerners. A recent study suggests that northerners suffer lower birth weights because of all the pollution from their coal-fired heating boilers. The preliminary study found that babies born in northern China during the 1980s were skinnier than their southern brethren because of pollution from coal-fired boilers for heating. The impact was about a quarter as bad as for children born to mothers who were heavy smokers.
