New Electric Power is no longer the subject of trading

In January 2015, Shenzhen launched pilot reforms of transmission and distribution prices, and another major step was taken in the nationwide power market reform. With the advancement of transmission and distribution pricing reforms, China will gradually promote the market-oriented reform of sales prices, gradually increase the power users' right to choose, and at the same time timely transmit the signals of changes in primary energy prices to the sales price, so that the price signals can reasonably reflect the market supply and demand, and the scarcity of resources. Environmental damage costs -

On January 1, 2015, Shenzhen launched a trial of transmission and distribution price reforms as scheduled. The current grid companies will rely on purchasing and selling electricity to obtain the profit model for the difference. Instead, they will implement a total income supervision for grid companies based on effective assets, and publish independent transmission and distribution. Electricity price.

This reform has released an important signal that electricity price reform is starting to accelerate, marking a major shift in China's regulatory mode for power grid companies, accumulating experience for a wider range of transmission and distribution pricing reforms, and creating favorable conditions for further promoting the reform of electricity marketization.

The grid is turned into a "service provider"

For a long time, China's power grid has been integrated with transmission, distribution and sales. The price of transmission and distribution is included in the sales price, reflecting the gap between the average sales price and the average purchase price, and no separate transmission and distribution tariffs have been established.

According to the “Shenzhen Transmission and Distribution Pricing Reform Pilot Project”, Shenzhen City Power Supply and Distribution Co., Ltd.’s transmission and distribution assets and business are based on the nuclear price basis for transmission and distribution prices in Shenzhen. Transmission and distribution prices are determined in accordance with the method of cost plus revenue control. The total level of transmission and distribution costs is equal to the total permitted transmission and distribution revenue divided by the total transmission and distribution volume. The transmission and distribution price supervision includes the supervision of the total revenue and the supervision of the price structure.

The reporter learned that the total revenue approval is based on effective assets. Among them, the effective assets refer to the assets necessary for the grid companies to provide transmission and distribution services. The price structure is divided into voltage levels, which are based on the reasonable cost of transmission and distribution at each voltage level. Shenzhen transmission and distribution prices will be set at 500 voltage, 220 kV, 110 kV, 20 kV, 10 kV, and 1 kV. The grid companies will gradually implement independent accounting and independent measurement of assets, expenses, supply and sales of electricity, and line transformation loss rates at various voltage levels.

According to this plan, the power grid will no longer be the main body of power transactions, but will participate in the power industry's industrial chain with the role of power transmission and distribution service providers, and rely on network resources to collect “over-net fee”. Most experts believe that this approach will eventually break the profit model that the grid relies on to buy electricity and sell electricity to obtain the difference between purchase and sale prices.

According to the person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, the first supervision cycle for the implementation of ex ante supervision of transmission and distribution tariffs in Shenzhen is from 2015 to 2017. After the trial started, the original relevant electricity price system in Shenzhen ceased to be implemented. When the relevant conditions are met, the transmission and distribution tariffs will be based on the sub-voltage level, further consider the impact of load characteristics on the transmission and distribution costs.

Professor Lin Boqiang, director of the China Energy Economic Research Center at Xiamen University, believes that the Shenzhen electricity price reform is based on the internationally accepted nuclear price method to monitor the income of the grid companies, strengthen the constraints on the cost of grid companies, and introduce incentive mechanisms. It will help the power grid companies further improve efficiency.

Gradually liberalize the on-grid tariff regulation

"On the basis of summing up the experimental experience, we will integrate the reform of the power system and coordinate the advancement of the electricity price reform." The responsible person of the National Development and Reform Commission told the reporter of the Economic Daily that according to the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, according to "release "Two ends and control the middle" idea, the National Development and Reform Commission will actively promote the construction of the power trading market, improve trading rules, and gradually release the on-grid tariff and sales price formed by market transactions; the government only supervises the transmission and distribution tariffs of the power grid, residents, farmers, etc. The price of electricity for users who do not have market bargaining power.

According to this general idea, China will gradually release the on-grid tariff regulation. "On-grid tariffs are links that can be introduced into competition and should be gradually released to the market, and ultimately through competition to form prices to play a decisive role in the allocation of resources in the market." Han Xiaoping, chief executive of China Energy Network, said.

Some experts believe that in the current market is not mature enough, the market rules are not yet sound, the power exchange market has not yet established, the release of the on-grid tariff may lead to abnormal fluctuations in electricity prices, affecting the safe operation of the grid, is not conducive to economic and social development. Therefore, in light of the reform of the power system, through the direct trading of power users and power generation companies, pilot bidding, bidding and pricing, etc., the power users and power generation companies will gradually increase their choice of power, further increase the level of power marketization, and fully release access to the Internet. Electricity price.

The reporter learned that with the advancement of the transmission and distribution pricing reforms, China will gradually promote the market-based reform of sales pricing, and gradually increase the power users' choices in addition to continuing government pricing for residents, agriculture, and other users who do not have market bargaining power. The right to encourage electricity users and power generation companies to voluntarily negotiate pricing. At the same time, the product attributes of electricity are restored, and the signal of changes in primary energy prices is transmitted to the sales price in a timely manner, so that the price signals can reasonably reflect the market supply and demand, resource scarcity and environmental damage costs.

Establishing an independent transmission and distribution tariff system

The reporter learned that the trial scheme for transmission and distribution price reforms has basically extended the current electricity price management system and is conducive to the smooth operation of the electric power industry. However, with the approval of power and grid projects in the province from the central authority to the local government, and the power tariff management authority is still concentrated in the central government, it will lead to the issue of electricity tariffs, and lead to unequal powers and responsibilities of local governments.

At the same time, due to a wide range of tariff adjustments, a large number of decision-making procedures, and too concentrated management authority in the central government, there may also be cases where changes in market prices and investment costs cannot be reflected promptly.

In fact, the transmission and distribution links belong to the nature of network-type natural monopoly. According to the international prevailing rules, the price of transmission and distribution must insist on government pricing. China's power grids are mainly central enterprises. The price of transmission and distribution is centrally monitored by the central government, which is conducive to the proper handling of power generation, the interest relationship between the power grid and users, between the central and local governments, and the healthy development of the power grid.

According to the relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission will further change the mode of price supervision in accordance with the principle of "setting rules, acting as a judge, coordinating, and implementing services." We will further improve the management methods for access, distribution, and distribution tariffs, strengthen local guidance and coordination, give full play to the role of provincial-level price authorities, increase the flexibility of tariff management, and better serve local economic development.

“The next step is to strengthen the supervision of the costs and revenues of grid monopolies, and to verify transmission and distribution tariffs in accordance with the principle of permissible costs and permissible gains, and gradually establish an independent transmission and distribution tariff system,” said the person in charge.

According to reports, the National Development and Reform Commission will study and formulate rules for the examination and verification of the costs of transmission and distribution costs to the public, increase the transparency of pricing, and increase the scientific and rational pricing of transmission and distribution prices. At the same time, prior to the establishment of independent transmission and distribution tariffs, the temporary transmission and distribution tariffs for all provincial power grids shall be verified, ie, based on the difference between the current average sales price of each provincial power grid and the purchase price, and after deducting a certain percentage, the temporary transmission and distribution tariffs shall be used. To create conditions for the promotion of market-oriented reform of electricity prices.

According to another understanding, after the reform of transmission and distribution prices, the state will also strengthen post-event supervision, urge all localities to strictly implement macro-control measures such as the centralization of excess capacity, and strictly investigate and punish various price violations.