Vietnam, facing a power shortage as demand grows 17 percent a year, has launched a campaign to cut electricity consumption by 10 percent, state media said on Saturday. Public lighting is to be dimmed and air conditioners at state agencies set at 25 degree Celsius, the Nhan Dan daily reported, citing a directive from Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Dung also called on people to reduce the use of air-conditioners, water heaters and irons in their homes during the peak hours in the evenings.
Drought has limited hydropower production in the dry season that runs to from April to June, making shortages worse.
However, experts and officials said severe outages experienced in the north were nearly over, after rains brought more water to the Hoa Binh hydro-electric power plant, Vietnam's biggest.
Late last month, Industry Minister Hoang Trung Hai said the economy lost around $3 million a day due to the power shortage that emerged in early May.