UPDATE 2-French state reminds EDF it still controls prices

* EDF CEO made faux pas on price hikes without govt approval

* CEO might have lost support for his contract renewal

* State says will only allow limited electricity price hikes

(adds quote, details)

By Astrid Wendlandt and Benjamin Mallet

PARIS, July 19 (Reuters) - The French government has made it plain to EDF (EDF.PA) that the state still calls the shots on electricity prices, opposing the energy giant's proposal of a 20 percent increase over three to four years.

Claude Gueant, chief of staff of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, promised voters on Sunday that future price increases would be "extremely limited."

The state still owns 85 percent of EDF, which has been listed on the Paris stock exchange since 2005.

Paris had already made clear it was annoyed by EDF Chief Executive Pierre Gadonneix's public calls for price hikes without running them by the government first.

And some government advisers said the move could undermine Gadonneix's long-term future at EDF.

"I have found it regrettable that the president of EDF worries French people with prospects of increases he knows well the government... will not support," Gueant told French radio Europe 1 on Sunday.

The brewing row over prices highlights how delicate it can be for a partially privatised company to make decisions that align its financial needs with the government's political agenda.

Gueant said France had invested heavily in energy infrastructure in the past decades to offer residents and industries cheaper electricity prices than in many other European countries.

"We do not want to raise electricity prices in France to the same level as elsewhere," Gueant said. "If there is an increase, it will be extremely limited."

Gueant said the French government would take its decision on electricity prices "in the next few weeks."