Shanghai will burn petroleum to generate electricity or purchase from neighboring provinces regardless of the cost to ensure power in the city, the manager of the electricity authority said Tuesday, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

Electricity demand hit 13.40 million kilowatts on Monday, said Zhou Yongxing, general manager of Shanghai Electric Power Co.

Though the power network can provide a peak of 18 million kilowatts, six million kilowatts have to be bought and transferred from other provinces. That supply is threatened due to broken power cables and falling electricity towers, the China Business Newspaper reported.

Shanghai Electric will increase the output of its oil-burnt power plants to bridge the demand gap even though it will mean the company loses money, Zhou said.

If power-generating capacity falls below 10 million kilowatts because of a coal shortage, the company will ask the city government to allocate more natural gas to its gas power plants, Zhou added.

Also, if power supplies drop, heavy users will be asked to close temporarily to save electricity.

Thus far, 18 heavy power users have been asked to reschedule production to non-peak hours.

Power, gas and water supplies are under huge pressure due to the cold weather and the most serious snowfall in 50 years hit the city on Monday.