What Happens When the Lights Go Out?

We all take for granted that nifty little miracle that happens when we flip a switch on our walls or lamps – the lights go on. Electricity is a modern marvel. It’s the juice that fuels much of what people mean when they talk about “civilization.” When we lose access to electricity, we feel the pain immediately. What we’re used to doing collides with what we suddenly can’t do. Now consider South Africa: the second-largest economy on the African continent and home to 61 million people. The entire country has faced rolling blackouts for about 15 years. How can that be? And what does the present and future hold for a country that doesn’t have a reliable source of electricity? During a trip to South Africa, Tim spoke with Paul Burkhardt, an energy reporter with Bloomberg News in Cape Town, and Olga Constantatos, a South African investor who has spent years watching the power crisis escalate in her country.

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