In the city of Yiwu in eastern China, authorities turned off streetlights for several days and ordered factories to open only part-time. In coastal Wenzhou, the government ordered some companies not to heat their offices unless temperatures are close to freezing. In southern Hunan province, workers have reported climbing dozens of flights of stairs after elevators were shut down.
Large swaths of China are scrambling to restrict electricity use this winter, as the country’s rapid economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and unexpectedly frigid temperatures have sent demand for power surging. Officials in at least three provinces — where a total of more than 150 million people live — have issued orders limiting energy use, warning of potential coal shortages.
Demand for coal is so high in the mining hub of Henan province that buyers have been lining up in trucks at the gates of coal mines, jostling for access, according to a recent report in the state-run news media.