All told, electricity demand in these regions is likely to exceed supply by an estimated 19 million kilowatts (kW) in the summer, according to estimates by regional power distributor East China Grid Company.

FORBES: China Braces for Blackouts

AES, an American power generator and distributor, thinks the new measures show the government's determination to be flexible if necessary.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's energy crisis

In the wreckage was Oasis pipeline, a unit of the wounded power and natural gas distributor Aquila.

FORBES: Companies, People, Ideas

In the UK, it already owns UK Power Networks, the electricity transmission network in London and the South East, gas distributor Northern Gas Networks and a 50% stake in Seabank Power.

BBC: Northumbrian Water in Hong Kong takeover deal

Western Australia's Alinta is the latest big energy distributor to expand its "green" output, announcing Tuesday it will take power from a 90-megawatt wind farm to be built near Geraldton.

CNN: story.codringtonwindfarm.jpg

Alliander is a major Dutch energy distributor and specialist in renewable energy, sustainability, technical innovations, and complex power systems in the Netherlands, serving more than three million customers in the region.

ENGADGET: IBM announces Smarter Energy Research Institute, aims to improve energy grids (video)