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This appears to be happening in China with electricity quotas. Running AC and machines in empty factories to make quota. "Local companies and officials are fra
by Reedx 7y ago
This appears to be happening in China with electricity quotas. Running AC and machines in empty factories to make quota.
"Local companies and officials are fraudulently boosting electricity consumption and other metrics in order to meet tough new back-to-work targets"
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/Lights-go-on-but-no-one-goes-to-work https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/Lights-go-on-but-no...
"Video evidence. In #Wenzhou, factory manager told they must consume 3000 kWh electricity by midnight, as the authorities use electricity usage as a criterion of re-open rate. Even this factory has not re-opened for lack of supply and manpower due to #COVID2019, manager had to.."
https://twitter.com/jenniferatntd/status/1233793672497573894 https://twitter.com/jenniferatntd/status/1233793672497573894
"Argh. A Wenzhou-based factory owner tells how district officials are telling him his closed factory (he has no workers) must turn on the machines and consume electricity or he’ll get “a visit”. Higher ups are watching the electricity numbers."
https://twitter.com/You_Shu_China/status/1233535925185122305 https://twitter.com/You_Shu_China/status/1233535925185122305
- Krasnol 7y agoSame happened on this "New Silk Road" track: "Empty trains on the modern Silk Road: when Belt and Road interests don’t align" https://pandapawdragonclaw.blog/2019/08/23/empty-trains-on-the-modern-silk-road-when-belt-and-road-interests-dont-align/ https://pandapawdragonclaw.blog/2019/08/23/empty-trains-on-t...
- NikolaeVarius 7y agoI wonder what this will do to the method of estimating Chinas economy via Electricity/Coal usage. What is next on the line that isn't being actively tampered with.
- jedberg 7y ago> I wonder what this will do to the method of estimating Chinas economy via Electricity/Coal usage. I think the causality goes the other way. I think that they are doing this because that is how their economy is measured.
- NikolaeVarius 7y agoIm pretty sure that before this electricity usage was not the primary measure of productivity. I think the news is that this Is a new "easy" way of attemting to force ramp up
- jedberg 7y agoBut if you know that people are using this method, so do the party leaders. It would be no surprise they are juicing their metrics.
- formercoder 7y agoWhen a metric becomes a target
- zbentley 7y agoThey used the wrong metric, but an easy one to measure. The right metrics (are the factories producing things correctly? Are those making it to consumers? Are the consumers paying for them?) are too difficult to measure discretely. And so we end up here. Reminds me of "the 'return 200' health-check endpoint is working; how can the site be down?"
- o-__-o 7y agoAnd THIS is why crypto markets are dropping, because China is flooding the network with miners to meet energy quotas
- emiliobumachar 7y agoIMO mining costs are dominated by chips, nobody has idle data centers on standby for such an occasion.
- yellowapple 7y agoJust because a cost ain't a large share of the pie doesn't mean it ain't worth shaving anyway.
- o-__-o 7y agoYou need to look up China mining operations. They pop up “data centers” anywhere there is free or cheap electricity. Sounds like a perfect operation for factories that must use electricity
- 1337biz 7y agoAren't all metrics targets?
- MikusR 7y agoAlso in US https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/24/3381238/microsoft-power-waste-quincy https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/24/3381238/microsoft-power-w...
- adventured 7y agoNot also in the US. They're entirely different situations with entirely different goals by the people doing it. Microsoft was trying to avoid a penalty for itself, one company. The businesses in China (not all obviously) are conspiring with the bureaucracy to fake economic activity on a massive scale, to put on a veneer for the outside world. This is about appearances to the world, because China is very scared right now.
- knzhou 7y agoHow about you stop with the nationalism? People in China are actual human beings, not part of a hive mind. They react to individual incentives.
- kortilla 7y agoYep, they are human beings forced by the government to hide the truth under the guise of “harmony” with the threat of much worse. Also, you can criticize the Chinese government without having any issues with Chinese people. Learn the difference or life is going to be hard.
- knzhou 7y agoYou're literally just agreeing with me, but in a condescending tone. My point is that not literally every Chinese person is "conspiring" to "fake" a "veneer" because they're "scared", because people != government. It's GP who needs to learn the difference.
- kortilla 7y agoIf they work with the government to participate in this data taking scheme, they are conspiring to fake a veneer. They just have no choice.