All snow-ravaged counties under the coverage of China Southern Power Grid (CSG) have had their power restored by Wednesday, said a spokesman for the state-owned energy giant.

Power was resumed in Pingtang in the southwestern Guizhou Province after workers restored a 110 kilovolt power line in the county early on Wednesday, 33 hours earlier than expected.

So far, all 90 counties that suffered power cuts under the coverage of CSG have had their electricity restored.

Freaky winter storms have plagued southern China since mid-January, leading to widespread traffic jams, structural collapse, blackouts and crop loss in 21 provincial-level regions.

In the southern provinces of Guangdong, Guizhou and Yunnan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 7,503 power lines and 859 transformer substations were damaged.

In Guizhou, Guangdong's Shaoguan and Guangxi's Guilin, rural power grids were almost completely destroyed.

Since the disaster, about 140,000 workers and soldiers have continued to repair the damaged electrical facilities. They have restored 6,440 power lines and 737 transformer substations, accounting for 85.8 percent of the total damage.

China Southern Power Grid covers the southern provinces of Guangdong, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, serving about 230 million people.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2008)