These days, most of us probably can't live without air conditioning with temperatures well above 30 degrees Celsius.<br />But this is putting an immense strain on power grids across the country,.... with electricity reserves expected to dip to a five year low. <br />Oh Soo-young reports. <br />In an apartment block in Seoul, some residents choose to spend their Tuesday evening outside the comfort of their homes,... but inside their cars in the parking lot.<br /><br />"I couldn't stay at home. It's like being inside a steamer. So I'm just staying in the car with the AC on."<br /><br /><br />The heat wave has pushed up demand for electricity to a summertime high,... as most households and businesses crank up the air conditioning. <br />According to Korea Power Exchange, demand for power is forecast to peak at 93 million kilowatts from four to five p.m. on Wednesday.<br />That's up by nearly a million kilowatts from the day before.<br />The reserve power supply ratio is expected to fall to six-point-eight percent during that time,... below the government's 11-percent estimate for this week,... and marking the lowest reserve rate in five years.<br />The surge in electricity use has already caused outages in a number of large apartment blocks.<br /><br />"We have to put up with it. But I'm worried about the food in the fridge."<br /><br />About forty restaurants and businesses located in Gyeonggi-do Province were also compromised.<br /><br />"We couldn't serve about ten tables and dropped two deliveries. We're really concerned the frozen food and the fresh chicken will go bad."<br /><br />Addressing concerns over power shortages,... as most of the nation remains under a heat wave warning,...Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu told a local radio station on Wednesday that the current reserve rate is sufficient despite the initially miscalculated estimates.<br /> He said with the summer holiday period beginning later this week, power demand is likely to fall as industrial activities slow down.<br />Oh Soo-young, Arirang News. <br />
