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Vladivostok residents will face serious power cuts now rather than during the upcoming winter, government officials decided Sept. 16 in coordination with electricity-supplier Dalenergo.

The decision comes after the start of a PrimorskUgol coal miners’ strike on Sept. 14. Workers have not received wages for six months, and the company does not have enough money to pay for the eight billion rubles’ worth of fuel it needs every month. Dalenergo itself owes PrimorskUgol 520 billion rubles (US$ 90 million).

But Dalenergo has over $90 million in other debts as well, and has not received expected payments for its own services. Its chief debtor is the city, at 460 billion rubles (US $80 million). The Ministry of Finance has promised Dalenergo 30 billion rubles, but this money will go to pay its own employees, not PrimorskUgol.

With PrimorskUgol’s production stopped, Dalenergo has agreed to begin power cuts of five to eight hours each day rather than dip into ample winter supplies before the cold sets in.

But city power stations are already operating at critically low levels, and risk coming to a halt in two ways. If a surge or short circuit happens at one of the plants, it will automatically shut down. TETs-2, the city’s main power plant, will be forced to shut down next week if coal miners do not return to work. If the station comes to a full stop, it will take two weeks to get back on line.

Now officials at Dalenergo must decide where to implement the inevitable fall power cuts. Krai Fuel Resources and Housing Chief Victor Chepik believes that residents should not be cut off because 86 percent of households pay their electricity bills, while many companies do not. This figure is even higher than it was in Soviet times, when only 70% of households paid for electricity, Chepik said.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no other choice. While only 27 percent of businesses and city services who do not pay for electricity have actually been cut off from power, many of those establishments need power more than city residents, said Mikhail Savchenko, who has served as a go-between for Dalenergo, PrimorskUgol, and the Krai. Hospitals and schools, for example, cannot operate without power, but have no money to pay Dalenergo, as they have steadily been losing funds in city budget cuts, he said.

At talks held Sept. 16 with krai, Dalenergo, and PrimorskUgol officials, both Savchenko and Dalenergo General Director Vasili Polischuk asked state leaders to declare a state of emergency in Vladivostok until the energy crisis is resolved.