After the recent snowstorm hampered railway transportation, China's thermal power generators started to come under heavy coal shortage pressures.

Coal reserves at many coal-fueled plants in Anhui and Henan provinces will only be able to produce power for a minimum of eight days. Some generators are operating hand-to-mouth with no stockpiles available.

In tandem were drastic surges in coal prices across the country, coal shipping prices in Qinhuangdao Port, Hebei Province, soared 30 percent in December 2009.

Since thermal power accounts for four fifths of the country's electricity, the wave of coal shortages is giving rise to a nationwide power strain. Adding to the pressures were the winter chill and strong economic recovery that bumped up electricity demands. Shanghai and Jiangsu Province began rationing electricity while Hubei Province experienced power blackouts.

Xue Jing, Director of the Department of Statistics under the China Electricity Council, said the coal-fuelled plants may slump into the red due to the skyrocketing coal prices. Worse still, the plants cannot pass the cost pressures to consumers as policymakers have kept a tight grip on electricity prices, she said.

The government will need to take efforts to consolidate the fragmented coal industry to have more influence on coal pricing, she added.