India Is Blocking a Cheap Way to Beat the Heat Wave

Keeping 1.4 billion people cool in 47 degree Celsius (116 degree Fahrenheit) heat was never going to be easy. In India, it’s about to get a whole lot harder.

A heat wave that’s baking the subcontinent sent electricity demand soaring last week, as tens of millions of air conditioners cranked up to take the edge off intolerable temperatures. Generation hit an all-time high of 256.1 gigawatts mid-afternoon on April 25. That’s about double the peak level in the early 2010s, and the hottest months of the year are still to come.