Residents of Myitkyina City, the capital of Kachin State, are facing severe electricity outages for the coming hot season on top of the phone and internet connectivity issues they currently grapple with.

Power outages during the hot season are common in Myitkyina, but they have become more common since Myitkyina was flooded at the beginning of July 2024.

Until January 2025 each Myitkyina City ward received electricity on a rota system of eight hours of electricity, followed by eight hours with no electricity. But, since January the rota has changed. Now they receive only six hours of power followed by 12 hours of blackout before the electricity comes back on for another six hours.

The daily reduction in electricity has made it challenging for Myitkyina residents to perform essential tasks such as cooking and pumping water. Incidents of theft at nighttime have also been on the rise as the darkness of the blackouts provides cover for thieves.

Displaced people (IDPs) who have fled fighting and sought shelter in Myitkyina are bearing the brunt of these new, longer power outages.

The water for the IDP camps where they are staying has to be pumped up from wells and stored in tanks for communal use. But due to prolonged power outages and low voltage when power is available the IDPs in the camps are not getting sufficient water.

An IDP from a camp in Myitkyina City’s Sitarpu Ward said: “In the IDP camp where I live, we have to pump water during the hours when electricity is available and store it in tanks. However, during the six-hour power intervals, low voltage often occurs, making it impossible for the motors to run and causing a lot of problems.”

Since 2007 the electricity for Myitkyina City has come from Buga Co Ltd, which is owned by the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). It operates three relatively small hydropower plants in Kachin State. It also takes power from the national grid which is owned by the junta, in particular from the Chipwi Hydropower project in Kachin State’s Chipwi Township, an area now also controlled by the KIO and its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army  (KIA).

When KNG contacted Buga and asked about why there were voltage fluctuations a Buga representative claimed that voltage drops were caused by damaged insulators on the junta’s national grid pylons carrying the power lines, which had become degraded by bad weather or because they were so old.

The Buga representative, who wishes to remain anonymous, also explained that the the Chipwi Dam, which is connected to Myitkyina by the national grid, sometimes cannot produce enough electricity during the hot season due to a lack of water, which makes it challenging to supply Myitkyina with electricity 24 hours a day.

He said: “When the weather gets hot, the power generation from hydroelectric plants tends to drop, so it becomes harder to provide electricity for longer periods. The power supply is really only available during the rainy season.”

There are also rumours circulating throughout Myanmar that the junta has been deliberately crippling the national grid so that Myitkyina does not receive enough electricity in an attempt to boost the sales of solar panels and solar inverters which convert solar panels output to useable electricity, because junta members and their cronies are running businesses importing and selling solar panels and inverters. However, KNG has been unable to confirm any such allegations.

Another veteran employee at the Buga office explained that expecting 24 hour power in Myitkyina is unrealistic and that with such high demand and such little supply it was inevitable that a rota for supplying electricity had to be put in place. He also hinted that maybe the junta was also deliberately reducing the supply to Myitkyina through the national grid so that more solar inverters would be sold.

He said: “In my opinion, it’s possible to provide Myitkyina with more power than it’s getting right now. But 24-hour power isn’t realistic. So, a rotation system is the most practical option given the current situation. However, it’s also possible they’re [the junta] deliberately reducing power supply to boost sales of solar inverters, which would increase their income. Right now, their excuse is that they’re cutting power because the amount coming into the national grid is decreasing.”