Four Things to Know About China’s Power Crunch

The record heat wave in Sichuan is drying up reservoirs and crippling hydropower stations — the largest source of renewable energy — causing a power crunch and forcing electricity cuts to businesses and households across the southwestern province of 84 million people.

Neighboring provinces and cities as far away as Shanghai that rely on electricity from Sichuan also feel the pain. The Bund waterfront in Shanghai turned off outdoor lighting and cut back on air conditioning. Tesla Inc. warned of disruptions in the supply chain for its Shanghai plant, and others such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s biggest maker of batteries for electric vehicles, have shuttered factories.