In China, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Supervision have jointly published a document entitled ‘Implementation of supervision of electricity prices for energy saving in China', with the aim of implementing differential electricity pricing for high energy consumption industries and to prevent violation of relevant government regulations.
Accordingly, seven supervision groups are to be established to investigate the electricity prices in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and to see where energy savings can be made. The NDRC stated that the work in question is to commence soon.
Insiders have commented that, while beneficial to the electricity supply sector, the developments in question will have a negative effect on the steel, ferrous alloy, electrolytic aluminium and other industries which are characterized by high energy consumption.