No restrictions on power use would be imposed over winter and spring, said the electricity provider in China’s Guangdong province as it sought to reassure the public following a blackout on Monday.

A spate of measures, such as stepping up checks and a better coordination of electricity production during peak hours, would be put in place to ensure a stable supply of power, China Southern Power Grid said in a press release on Monday.

The hour-long power outage in Guangdong followed reports that electricity was being rationed in more than a dozen Chinese cities. Companies have been ordered not to heat their offices unless temperatures are close to freezing. Office workers across China have also been forced to climb the stairs of high-rise buildings.

There were also rumors that the power supply in several areas of Beijing and Shanghai would be restricted on Tuesday, but Shanghai authorities dismissed the outages as planned maintenance.

The restrictions and outages came after China imposed an embargo on Australian coal imports. Cold weather and activities to revive the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery are also believed to have driven up demand.

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