Residential areas in northeastern China experienced sudden power outages, due to power shortages. At first the blackout was only for factories, now it has spread to people's homes.
Residents living in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces have complained on social media about the lack of heating, and stalled elevators and malfunctioning traffic lights.
Local media as reported by the BBC quoted on Tuesday (28/9/2021), said the cause was the increase in coal prices which caused a shortage of supply. The country relies heavily on coal for power generation.
One power company said it expected the blackout to last until the spring of next year, posting a statement that unexpected blackouts like this would eventually become the "new normal". However, the post was later deleted.
The Impact on Residents of Power Outages Energy shortages initially affected producers across the country, many of whom had to curb or halt production in recent weeks.
Over the weekend, residents of several cities also experienced occasional power outages, and posting their lament with the hashtag "Northeast power outage" and other related phrases trended on social media platforms such as Twitter, Weibo.
The extent of the outage is unclear, but nearly 100 million people live in the three provinces.
In Liaoning province, a factory, its ventilator suddenly stopped working and had to send at least 23 staff to hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning.
There have also been reports of several people being hospitalized after they used stoves in poorly ventilated rooms as space heaters due to the cold weather in China.
People who live in high-rise buildings or apartments also complain of having to go down and up dozens of stairs because of a malfunctioning elevator.
Shortage of Large-Scale Coal Supply
One video circulating in Chinese media shows cars speeding down one side of a busy highway in Shenyang in complete darkness, as traffic lights and street lights turn off. City authorities told The Beijing News outlet they were experiencing a "massive" power shortage.
Social media posts from the affected region say the situation is similar to living in neighboring North Korea.
The Jilin rumus menghitung angka togel sgp provincial government said efforts were underway to get more coal from Inner Mongolia to address the coal shortage.
Power restrictions are already in place for factories in 10 other provinces, including manufacturing bases of Shandong, Guangdong and Jiangsu.