Mayor Xu Zongheng has called on all city government departments to set their air conditioning thermostats to no lower than 26 degrees Celsius to reduce electricity consumption, in line with new Central Government guidelines, Thursday's Daily Sunshine reported.

Government departments should take the lead in saving energy, Xu was quoted by the report as saying during an inspection of the city's power supply bureau.

Measures should be taken to guarantee power supply to households and factories, the mayor said. For the time being, special attention should be paid to supplying power to examination venues during the National College Entrance Examinations and the Senior High School Entrance Exams, Xu said.

In addition to limiting in-house temperatures, Xu also suggested urban street lighting at night be restricted between Mondays and Fridays and businesses that consume electricity during off-peak hours be subsidized.

A total of 20.02 billion kWh of electricity was generated in Shenzhen in the January-May period this year, up 19 percent over the same period last year. May's high temperatures caused high demand for electricity and some businesses were asked to stagger their use of power.

The provincial government increased power supply to Shenzhen by 200,000 kWh in the second quarter.

Xu said that the shortage in power supplies is temporary and periodic, and the government would try its best to ensure a normal power supply to households and important industrial power users.

Editor: Yan