ARTICLES

Myanmar’s Post-coup Electricity Woes: Stalled Power Plans, Shattered Public Trust

Khine Win

Two years ago, and even a year ago in the aftermath of the 1 February 2021 coup, Yangon was not suffering severe blackouts. While there were sporadic electricity cuts for a few hours a day in some of its townships, electricity supply was more stable and predictable than ten or fifteen years earlier. This experience has left city dwellers wondering what accounts for the severe power cuts now.