BEIJING (AFP) - China has no plans to raise electricity charges despite tight power supply during the winter months, the government said.
"It is understood that the State Development and Reform Commission has no current plan for significant readjustment of household electricity prices," said a statement on the commission's website.
It said recent Chinese media reports about an impending rise were inaccurate.
Xinhua news agency said separately that the commission is urging efficient management of electricity to ensure that supplies to households, agricultural producers and other key industries are not affected this winter and next spring.
"Electricity supply must be suspended for industries that are not compliant with state policies or those which are power-intensive and highly polluting," the official news agency said.
The commission had earlier ordered local authorities to cap increases for utility prices such as water, gas, electricity and public transport to curb rising inflationary pressures in the economy.
But prices for industrial and commercial users have already gone up twice this year to help generators cope with rising coal prices.
China faces growing power shortages due to a combination of bad planning, stronger-than-expected economic growth, decreasing water supplies for hydroelectric power generators and disruptions to coal supplies.
Some 24 provincial areas were forced to ration power through 'brownouts' during the summer months.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called on all local governments to treat the control of electricity demand as a top priority, demanding that consumption by power-intensive but low-efficiency industries be strictly restricted.
11/13/2004 - 18:46 GMT - AFP