Because of cold temperatures and increased industrial production since December 2020, many provinces across the country faced electricity shortages and blackouts. According to the National Energy Administration, power consumption in the provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi rose by 17.2 percent and 19.07 percent year-on-year in December. Hunan reached the electricity grid’s maximum load of 30.93 million kilowatts, a record for the province. The energy agency has been working with power companies to ensure generation capacity, increase coal supplies and is trying to balance supply and demand. Most provinces were not fully prepared for the electricity shortages, nor did they formulate emergency plans for the cold spell. Experts argued that generally speaking, China has an oversupply of electricity and the sudden shortfall reflects weak management of the electricity distribution grid.
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