When a power outage plunged 5,000 homes in northern Henan into darkness on the night of November 2 – the source was tracked down to a local karaoke bar. Yang Yusen, the head of Qixian county’s local power utility, was drinking in the club. It turns out he had got involved in a dispute with the bar owners after they conveyed a request to desist from buying further drinks for a nearby table of women. Sensing rejection, Yang lost his temper and after a quick round of smashing bottles and booths, he ordered the club’s power cut. The Legal Evening News reports he shouted: “How can you make money without electricity? I’ll unleash the wrath of the ‘electricity tiger’!” (That’s the nickname for power distribution giant State Grid.) Unfortunately, possibly due to drunkenness, he overstated his order when he called his functionaries and about half the county was left without power. It didn’t take long for local police to work out the reason for the outage. Yang has now been removed from his position.
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