China’s southwestern province Sichuan began limiting electricity supply to homes, offices and malls on Wednesday, due to a severe power crunch driven by extreme heat waves and drought, according to state media and one power company. Residential areas, officies and shopping malls in Dazhou, a city of 5.4 million people, were informed of rotating brownouts each lasting several hours throughout Wednesday, according to the official Wechat account of state-run Dazhou Power Group. Residential brownouts are rare as China typically limits power supply to industries first to prioritize residential and commercial use in any power squeeze. In what appears to be an official call to conserve electricity use, government offices were asked to set air conditioners to no lower than 26 Celsius (78.8°F) and use more staircases instead of lifts, the provincial government-run Sichuan Daily said in front-page report on Wednesday. Fountains, light shows and commercial […]