Offbeat: Iraqis face new kind of power problem

Iraqis are used to severe electricity shortages, but residents of the central holy city of Karbala have a new kind of power problem: an electricity tower in the middle of a street.
Authorities opened a new street in the Sayed Jowda area of Karbala in mid-July but left the electricity tower, which dates to the 1980s, in place, forcing motorists to drive around it.
“There is no doubt that the tower is dangerous to drivers – that’s why we hung banners to warn the people that there is a tower in the middle of the street,” said a spokesman for Karbala traffic police.
Provincial governor Amal al-Din al-Har said the tower could not be removed until October, as shifting it would require cutting off electricity to the city for four days.
Karbala residents do not receive much power from the grid anyway – just one hour of power followed by five without, for a total of four hours a day.
Current electricity production and imports total about 7,000 megawatts, with demand around twice as much, leaving residents to turn to private generators to supplement the few hours of daily government grid power they receive.