[bluetomcat]

In Bulgaria, there were only two periods (1984-85 and 1990-91) during which electrical supply was interrupted on a planned basis. Rumour has it that the regime was starved for hard currency (US dollars) and was exporting everything it could. As a small kid, I remember spending 2-3 hours in the evening, relying on candles for light. In the rest of the time, electricity was cheap and abundant because the country had an economic profile based on heavy and light industry. Energy efficiency was something unheard of – appliances were power-hungry and inefficient, flats in residence blocks were badly insulated, but heating their home was never an issue for most people.